Russian forces close in on key Donbas stronghold Kramatorsk from three sides

Russia's summer offensive in eastern Ukraine has achieved significant tactical gains, with forces advancing toward the Kramatorsk-Sloviansk agglomeration from three directions simultaneously. Kostiantynivka, a city larger than the previously captured Pokrovsk, is on the verge of falling after Russian troops severed its supply routes to Kramatorsk by mid-June. Ukrainian forces are managing to slow the advance but have so far been unable to halt it entirely.

Russian forces in eastern Ukraine have made their most consequential territorial gains of the summer, pushing toward the Kramatorsk-Sloviansk urban agglomeration from three separate directions simultaneously, according to a front-line assessment published on June 25, 2026.

Kostiantynivka on the brink

The battle for Kostiantynivka, a city larger than the previously captured Pokrovsk, began in earnest in late October 2025, shortly after Russian troops cleared the northern outskirts of the Toretsk agglomeration following a year of grinding combat. Two strike groups from the Southern Military District were assembled for the assault: one built around the 8th Combined Arms Army attacking from the south via Toretsk, and another from the 3rd Army Corps advancing from the east through the outskirts of Chasiv Yar.

Ukrainian forces initially held firm, constructing powerful defensive lines on the southern and southeastern outskirts that repelled Russian infiltration tactics, the same small-group urban penetration approach used successfully at Pokrovsk. Isolated Ukrainian units in the city's south continued fighting and even launched counterattacks despite being effectively cut off.

In recent months, Russian forces shifted their strategy, targeting logistics with drone and aerial bomb strikes on roads north of Kostiantynivka and on reservoir dams along the Kryvyi Torets river running through the city. Ukrainian units in the south were reduced to receiving supplies exclusively by drone. By mid-June, three Russian assault columns had reached the city's northern outskirts, severing roads leading to Kramatorsk. Video evidence from recent days suggests Ukrainian drone operators have been forced to relocate to more distant positions, signaling the city's fate may be sealed, though pockets of Ukrainian resistance persist in southern and central districts and could hold out for several more weeks.

Lyman besieged, Sloviansk threatened

On the northern bank of the Siverskyi Donets river, Russian forces have been pressing toward Lyman, a critical road junction, since autumn 2025. Ukrainian counterattacks temporarily stalled the assault for several months, but by June Russian troops had accumulated sufficient forces on the city's outskirts and in adjacent forests to mount a general offensive. By the third week of June, Russian assault troops had been spotted in all districts of Lyman.

The fall of Lyman would threaten the supply lines of the entire Ukrainian grouping on the northern bank of the Siverskyi Donets. Simultaneously, on the southern bank, Russian forces have advanced from the previously captured village of Kryva Luka toward Piskunivka, and have seized most of the logistically important village of Rai-Oleksandrivka. The apparent near-term objective is Mykolayivka on the river bank, near the intake point of the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal. Reaching this area, combined with the fall of Lyman, could force Ukrainian forces to abandon the entire northern bank east of Lyman.

Dobropillia direction under pressure

North of Pokrovsk, a separate Russian operational objective, the capture of Dobropillia, has stalled for six months, with Russian forces managing only to seize the neighboring village of Hryshyne. However, a new crisis has emerged in recent days: Russian assault troops have reached the village of Shevchenko south of Dobropillia, which Ukrainian commanders from the 7th Army (air assault) Corps had previously described on social media as their main rear base, the last point of road resupply, beyond which troops had to advance on foot or use ground drones. The front has now reached Shevchenko itself, threatening Ukrainian positions in Bilytske and Novyi Donbas to the east.

Ukrainian counterattacks in Zaporizhzhia

In the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian forces have launched a fresh series of counterattacks on the northern flank of Russian positions, targeting the Velyka Novosilka-Hulyaipole road that serves as the main supply artery for Russia's entire "East" grouping operating in eastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. A previous Ukrainian operation in the Haichur-Yanchur interfluve yielded only limited gains before Russian reinforcements from the Pokrovsk area retook the villages of Berezove and Ternove. Ukrainian command has since committed fresh reserves, formerly active in Sumy Oblast, and resumed attacks on multiple axes around those villages. From the recently liberated village of Novoivanivka, Ukrainian forces are approximately two kilometers from the critical supply road.

Strategic picture

The broader pattern emerging from the June fighting suggests that while Russian forces are achieving their tactical objectives, advancing toward Kramatorsk-Sloviansk from the south, east, and north, each operation requires months of preparation and the breakthrough to Kramatorsk's outskirts is still likely multiple such operations away. Nevertheless, Ukrainian commanders may need to fundamentally reconsider their defensive concept for northern Donbas: current tactics are slowing the Russian advance but not stopping it.