Ukraine Advances on Two Fronts as Russia Throws Rear Units Into Assaults, ISW Reports

Ukrainian forces have advanced on two sections of the front—near Borova in the Kharkiv region and in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area of the Donetsk region—the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported in its assessment published on June 9.

The review draws on geolocated combat footage, reporting from Ukraine's General Staff, and statements by Ukrainian field commanders and spokespeople.

According to ISW, geolocated footage published between June 4 and June 8 confirmed Ukrainian advances at several points:

• near Karpivka, east of Serednie, and northwest of Zelena Dolyna, all southeast of Borova in the Kharkiv region;

• in northwestern Chasiv Yar, northeast of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region;

• in eastern and western Kostyantynivka, in areas where Russian sources had previously claimed a presence.

ISW assessed that Russian small groups infiltrated western Kostyantynivka, while a Russian milblogger acknowledged that Russian troops are struggling to operate in the city as Ukrainian forces counterattack and strike their logistics with drones.

Near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, Russian forces continued small-group infiltration attempts from both banks of the Oskil River without meaningful results, Ukrainian Joint Forces Task Force Spokesperson Colonel Viktor Trehubov noted, according to the assessment.

ISW also cited a Ukrainian brigade officer in the Lyman direction of the Donetsk region, who reported that Russian commanders are sending logistics workers, repairmen, and other non-infantry personnel into assaults because their units cannot bring enough infantry to the frontline. The officer added that Russian officers lie to their superiors about progress while the command keeps ordering advances.

Elsewhere—in the Lyman, Slovyansk, and Pokrovsk directions of the Donetsk region and in the Zaporizhzhia region—Russian forces continued attacks without confirmed advances, ISW observed.

No active ground fighting was reported in the Kherson direction, where Ukrainian forces struck the Chonhar Bridge linking the occupied Kherson region to Crimea for the second time since June 7.

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War in Ukraine

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A Ukrainian regiment commander explained that Russian forces use the bridge to deliver ammunition and fuel from Crimea, and occupation authorities temporarily closed traffic across it following the strike.

The advances extend a pattern of Ukrainian gains in the northeast in recent weeks. In May, Russian troops were pushed back toward the state border on the Velykyi Burluk axis in the Kharkiv region, losing two settlements within a month, while repeated infiltration attempts near Kupyansk failed to reach the city.

The two-front progress also builds on Ukraine's strongest monthly battlefield showing in years. May closed with the ratio of liberated to lost territory at nearly 100 square kilometers in Ukraine's favor, bringing the total ground recovered since the start of the year to more than 600 square kilometers.

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