Ukraine races to defend a key Zaporizhzhia stronghold as a second Russian offensive gathers force in Donbas. Meduza analyzes the latest battlefield developments.

Like our earlier reports on the combat situation in Ukraine, this article reviews recent battlefield developments based on open-source information. Meduza has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the outset, and our military analyses reflect our commitment to objective reporting on a war we firmly oppose.

Our map is based exclusively on open-source photos and videos, most of them posted by eyewitnesses on social media. We collect available evidence and determine its geolocation markers, adding only the photos and videos that clear this process. Meduza doesn’t try to track the conflict in real time; the data reflected on the map are typically at least 48 hours old.

Key updates as of February 11, 2026

Fresh off its gains in Kupyansk, where Ukrainian forces retook almost half of the city west of the Oskil River, Kyiv’s military command is now attempting to stop another Russian advance in the eastern part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. However, this will be far more difficult.

Russia’s “Vostok” contingent, formed from forces of the Eastern Military District, has been advancing for more than a year and a half, capturing more territory than any other Russian formation. Its units have seized a series of Ukrainian strongholds one after another: Vuhledar, Velyka Novosilka, and Huliaipole.

Ukraine has pulled together reserves from several assault regiments to counter the advance, with the goal of at least slowing the Vostok contingent in the Haichur River valley. Russian forces hope to break through from there into the central part of the Zaporizhzhia region and reach another major fortified town, Orikhiv.

For Ukraine, there are two key challenges: Vostok’s manpower advantage and time. The Ukrainian command may soon have to shift its attention to central Donbas, where Russian troops have begun an offensive toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

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Huliaipole and the Haichur River

Russian forces that crossed the Haichur River near Huliaipole are now trying to widen their bridgehead. The command of the “Vostok” contingent is repeating its usual practice: advancing from the east along the section of the Ukrainian front that faces south. This allows Russian troops to keep attacking Ukrainian units from two directions at once, threatening them with encirclement.

In recent days, Ukraine has attempted counterattacks with mechanized columns southwest of Huliaipole, an area where Russian troops had been advancing rapidly. The outcome of those counterattacks is unclear, aside from open-source videos showing Ukrainian equipment losses.

Northwest of Huliaipole, the picture is clearer: Ukraine has not yet managed to halt the Russian advance. Russian forces have seized part of the village of Zaliznychne and have broken through a defensive line running along the Polohy–Pokrovske railway.

Ukrainian attacks on another Russian bridgehead on the Haichur — this one north of Zaliznychne, near the village of Ternuvate — have been more successful. Despite losing equipment, Ukrainian assault troops managed to regain a foothold in the village, which Russian forces had captured only a week earlier.

Ukrainian troops are advancing not only on the Haichur’s western bank but also on its eastern side. During their earlier withdrawal, they held onto a small position near the village of Dobropillia. From that bridgehead, Ukrainian infantry has managed to infiltrate deep into the rear of Russian positions.

Russian sources report that Ukrainian forces have also begun attacking the salient held by “Vostok” from the north — from the settlement of Pokrovske — using the 82nd Air Assault Brigade, which was redeployed from the Pokrovsk sector. However, no open-source videos confirming these attacks have yet appeared.

Ukraine’s objective is clear: to slow Russia’s push toward Orikhiv from the east. The threat to the next Ukrainian “fortress” in the Zaporizhzhia region is significant. “Vostok” has roughly 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) left to reach Orikhiv — the same distance it has already advanced since late October, when it captured the village of Vyshneve. In that time, Russian forces have fought their way across two relatively large water barriers: the Yanchur and the Haichur rivers.

Meanwhile, the Russian “Dnepr” grouping of forces advancing on Orikhiv from the west is just 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the city, though their progress has been considerably slower.

Unless the command decides to pull scarce reserves from other sectors, Ukraine’s forces won’t have the strength to eliminate all Russian bridgeheads on the Haichur. Nor will they have the time: Russian offensives in other sectors are already beginning as part of the spring campaign.

Pokrovsk and Dobropillia

After capturing Pokrovsk and the neighboring city of Myrnohrad, Russian forces began massing troops under the cover of residential and industrial areas, which offer some protection from Ukrainian drone strikes. Still, the strikes continue. And UAV footage published by Ukraine’s military now regularly shows not only isolated Russian assault troops on the streets of Pokrovsk, but a growing variety of military vehicles as well.

Russian units are attempting to push Ukrainian forces away from the northern and western outskirts of Pokrovsk by capturing the village of Hryshyne, where Ukrainian drone operators are based. Russian troops managed to secure positions on the southeastern edge of the village, but their advance stalled amid Ukrainian counterattacks. Hryshyne continues to come under regular airstrikes and artillery fire.

North of Pokrovsk, the Russian advance has been held back by Ukrainian defenses in the town of Rodynske. Control of the town changed hands repeatedly over the past six months, and even after the fall of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad — up until mid-January — Ukrainian units continued launching counterattacks inside Rodynske.

Now, Russian forces are trying to bypass the Rodynske area from both the north and the south, so that troops from around Pokrovsk can support a new offensive toward the city of Dobropillia (not to be confused with the village of Dobropillia on the Haichur River).

To the north of Rodynske, Russian troops have captured the settlement of Novyi Donbas, located five kilometers (roughly three miles) east of Dobropillia, and are now attacking toward Bilytske, a town eight kilometers (about five miles) southeast of Dobropillia.

Kostiantynivka and the Kazennyi Torets River

Russia is likely planning its main offensive to the east of Dobropillia. After redeploying additional marine units to this sector — where it launched a failed offensive in August 2025 — Russian forces have resumed their push along the Kazennyi Torets River toward Druzhkivka and Kramatorsk.

In January, after heavy fighting, Russian troops captured the village of Shakhove and then broke through toward Toretske and Sofiivka. For now, marine units are largely being held in reserve (or are being replenished after losses sustained in the assault on Shakhove), and the advance is being led by the 150th Motor Rifle Division of Russia’s 8th Combined Arms Army. Those reserve forces will likely be brought into the battle later.

At the same time, Russian troops have pushed along the road from Pokrovsk toward the southwestern outskirts of Kostiantynivka. The apparent goal is to attack Kostiantynivka from three directions — the southwest, the south, and the east — while simultaneously attempting to encircle the city from the north by breaking through toward Druzhkivka.

So far, the most progress has been made by Russian units that entered Kostiantynivka from the southeast. After several months of fighting, they have managed to reach the city’s railway station. The advances from the east and southwest are only just beginning — and could significantly complicate Ukraine’s ability to defend the city.

Sloviansk

After Russia’s rapid capture of the city of Siversk — which fell after just a few days of fighting at the end of 2025 — Russian forces gained a direct path toward Sloviansk along a ridge of hills running beside the Siverskyi Donets River.

Ukraine’s top military command replaced the officers responsible for the city’s loss and, according to Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, “stabilized the situation.” But so far, there is no visual evidence to support that assessment: over the past month, Russian troops have seized the hills surrounding Siversk and are pushing deeper into Ukrainian defensive lines.

Ukrainian forces have managed to slow the Russian advance to the southwest of Siversk, in the village of Riznykivka. But to the northwest, along the Siverskyi Donets, the situation remains critical. Russian troops have taken the villages of Dronivka, Platonivka, and Zakitne in succession and are now threatening to outflank the Ukrainian units fighting for Riznykivka.

The Russian offensive near Siversk is also undermining Ukrainian efforts to hold their bridgehead on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets. In several areas, Russian troops have reached the river and are fighting within the boundaries of Lyman itself.

For now, however, Ukrainian forces still control the river crossings at Staryi Karavan, Shchurove, and Pryshyb — even though they’re under constant bombardment. As long as the crossings remain intact, Ukraine can maintain its bridgehead: Russian progress on this front has been extremely slow. But if Russian troops advance toward the crossings from the Siversk side — meaning from across the river — defending the bridgehead will become impossible.

Ukraine’s position is further complicated by the fact that, after several quiet years on this stretch of the front, Russian commanders have moved in reserves and stepped up the fighting south of Siversk. In recent weeks, Russian forces have captured several villages along the Bakhmut–Sloviansk road — Minkivka, Bondarne, and Pryvillya — and are pressing directly toward Sloviansk.

Ukrainian commanders will likely soon need to assemble reserves to slow this major offensive — both near Siversk and Lyman, and along the Bakhmut–Sloviansk highway. If they fail to do so, Russian forces could reach the Sloviansk–Kramatorsk urban area as early as this summer.

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