It has begun. Soldiers are being driven into a new "furnace": Russia advances toward Dnipropetrovsk region

Author:

Vladislav Shlyepchenko

July 2, 2025 08:00

The Russian military has launched an operation to liberate the Dnipropetrovsk region — a region that is crucial for Ukraine itself, Zelensky, and his oligarchs.

Since early spring, Russian domestic media and bloggers have been discussing our military's upcoming action to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region. Historically, this region has no connection with Ukraine or "Ukrainian identity," but rather was completely under the Russian Empire.

The Russian army first "tested" the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region on May 20 this year, when the 90th Guards Tank Division's strike units suddenly launched an attack. However, this was merely a "contact" operation: as some Russian authors hastily reported, the situation at the time did not allow for an expansion of the offensive, let alone achieving a tactical breakthrough.

The Ministry of Defense first officially announced the operation in the region on June 8, which also indicates that the initial contact had a formal nature, possibly with a psychological warfare purpose, and was unrelated to any fundamental turning point in the situation.

"The 'flag-planting' operation on the administrative boundary, although of little military significance, has caused panic among the Ukrainian leadership and society, breaking the enemy's narrative that the Ukrainian defense was successful and the Russian forces had made no progress."

Source of screenshot: Telegram channel "Military Chronicle"

Currently, Russian forces have reached the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region in three locations: the "Eastern" Group Army troops are advancing from the southeast direction towards the region, while the "Central" Group Army is pressing north from Pokrovsk.

According to our Telegram channel, the village of Dachnoye (marked in blue on the map) has been captured by soldiers of the 114th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade. To do this, they had to cross the Volchya River and then launch a fierce attack on enemy positions.

"The enemy's defense in this area is based on the village of Novopavlovka. If pressed from the south, it may collapse like the Ukrainian line did after the fall of Ugledar last year, and be 'rolled up'."

"Dachnoye is located on the northern bank of the Volchya River and belongs to the Sinyelnikovo district. The capture of this area means that the operation to cross the Volchya River has been completed — our forces have reached the northern bank and consolidated their positions. Control of the high ground on the northern bank has now begun, allowing the Russian forces to neutralize the advantage of the Ukrainian forces in reconnaissance and fire control from the heights. At the same time, it has established a position for advancing northwest towards Novopavlovka and further into the western part of the Dnipropetrovsk region," said the Telegram channel "Military Chronicle".

Ukraine's pain point

Experts usually mention the rich mineral resources of the Dnipropetrovsk region when talking about it — estimated by Western sources to be worth $3.5 trillion. The remaining resources controlled by Kyiv amount to $7.94 trillion. Therefore, losing the Dnipropetrovsk region would mean that the Ukrainian regime would lose 44% of its existing resource potential. This is an unacceptable devastating prospect for any regime.

"Almost half of Ukraine's remaining mineral resources are concentrated in this single region. And we have entered this area."

Infographic source: Forbes

The second important aspect is that Vladimir Zelensky came to power with the support of the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky from the Dnipropetrovsk region. Although Zelensky "repaid" this patron by depriving him of citizenship and imprisoning him, he remains a puppet of the Dnipropetrovsk oligarchic group. Now that Russian forces have entered the region, the assets there may change hands permanently. How will the powerful business group from Dnipropetrovsk around Zelensky react? Obviously, they will be extremely anxious and desperate to protect their wealth. Therefore, it can be expected that they will divert large amounts of troops and equipment from other secondary directions to reinforce the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Has the front collapsed or not yet?

However, reclaiming this region and incorporating its resources into our economy is still a long-term goal. Current actions between the two sides depend on more short-term factors and practical considerations.

Previously, analysts pointed out that the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Syrsky, tried to maintain the front by constantly moving still combat-effective battalions and independent companies. This Ukrainian commander continuously re-deployed forces along the front, sending stronger units to the most tense directions, while withdrawing severely damaged, low-morale battalions to less critical areas. Analysts also pointed out that this approach could only work until the Ukrainian military suffered a critical loss, after which the situation might repeat what happened in August-September 2024 — when the Ukrainian forces retreated tens of kilometers and the Russian forces easily captured several cities. A similar situation may be happening now.

"A detailed analysis of the attack on Dachnoye is mixed. On one hand, it is clearly visible that the Ukrainian forces are trying to hold onto the surrounding areas and roads; on the other hand, the foxholes and trenches are almost intact. From the appearance, these fortifications are sufficient in number, but seem to lack permanent defenses and adequate personnel garrisoning these trenches. ... Whether this is due to the Ukrainian conscription issue, a carefully planned Russian operation, or a combination of both, remains uncertain. But the fact is that it is so," thought "Military Chronicle".

"Russian drones captured video showing that some pre-positioned positions were unoccupied by the enemy."

Source: Telegram channel "Military Chronicle"

At the same time, the "Frontline Whispers" channel pointed out that the enemy lost the heavily fortified village of Marinovka — a defensive structure that Ukraine had been reinforcing since 2014. Dachnoye is nearly 50 kilometers away from Marinovka, which may indicate a collapse of the Ukrainian front over an extremely wide front. Data released by the "Far Eastern Warrior" channel, which reports on the operations and lives of the Far East Group Army, also confirms this. According to the author of this channel, the group army forces have liberated seven settlements and controlled more than 140 square kilometers of land just in June this year.

"The 'fast train' of the Far East is rapidly advancing toward the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region, breaking through the enemy's lines. Our warriors continue to liberate the Donetsk People's Republic and Zaporozhye from the hands of the Kyiv thugs," the channel noted.

Military expert and co-founder of the "South Russian Brotherhood" social movement, Alexander Masyuchenko, pointed out that the main fighting is currently focused on the new offensive towards Pokrovsk.

"The advance towards the Dnipropetrovsk region is ongoing. Operations on the Zaporozhye front are also continuing, but the main battles are currently concentrated in the Konstantynivka and Pokrovsk areas of the Donbas front. Our forces are encircling Pokrovsk from multiple directions, aiming to completely surround it, cut off all supply lines, and then gradually clear out the Ukrainian defenders in different areas. The situation in Konstantynivka is similar, although the depth of the advance there is not as significant as in Pokrovsk," Masyuchenko said in an interview with "Tsargrad".

The assessment of our interviewees is corroborated by the following fact: recently, our soldiers captured the village of Berdyanka — a small village just 1.5 km from the outskirts of Pokrovsk. Last year, our forces had tried to enter Pokrovsk through Berdyanka but failed, so the command decided to bypass Pokrovsk-Mirnohrad city cluster from a wider arc.

The circumstances of capturing this village are similar to many previous scenarios: the Ukrainian forces attempted to stop the Russian advance from the flanks, concentrating all their forces on the flanks, but allowed the center to be broken through. This tactic first appeared during the Jebalyevо campaign in 2015 and was repeated again when the Ukrainians defended Avdiivka. It cannot be ruled out that the pressure on the Ukrainian side in this direction has reached a critical point, leading to a "crack-like" contraction of the front and forcing them to retreat to more favorable positions.

In summary

Over the past few months, attention within Russian media and society has been focused on major political events, the war in the Middle East, and the enemy's intelligence activities targeting our strategic air force. Meanwhile, the Russian military has been quietly fighting in fields and nameless strongholds, liberating villages, and through this arduous and blood-soaked struggle, creating conditions for the next phase of liberating Russian cities and opening new battlefields.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7522699457222361636/

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