The Russians are attacking in almost every area.

A difficult spring and summer await Ukraine.

The complete capture of Daetsk remains the Russians number one military and political objective and they will concentrate their forces there this spring.

Defensive lines are being established west of Picovsk, but it remains unclear whether the Russians will move there.

In the most optimistic scenario, the Russians will not even be able to capture Costantineka this summer.

They have entered the outskirts of the city but cannot advance further.

Ukraine’s counterattacks in the south will force the Russians to redeploy their forces, delaying and weakening their spring offensive.

The initiative in Denipro Petrovskin and Zaparisia lies with Ukraine.

The defense forces have thwarted Russia’s spring summer campaign plans here.

The KDSHV’s advance towards Olexandrevka is the result of several months of planning and it is estimated that the plan may be broader than the official statement suggests.

Ukraine’s operations towards Alexandrika and Hulipole destabilize the Zaparisia front, forcing Russia into a two-front war of attrition.

If Russian commanders are forced to shift their assault units from Daetsk to stabilize the south, the grand offensive plan could collapse and the near complete liberation of Denipro Petrovsk is allowing Ukraine to gain operational depth from the south.

This means room for maneuver for future operations and a constant threat to Russia’s southern flank.

Putin faces a strategic dilemma and the cost of either option is heavy.

The first option is to stabilize the south and delay the spring offensive.

This means shifting troops south in response to Ukraine’s counterattacks in the south.

But in this case, the offensive plans in Donetsk would be suspended and Moscow’s promise to completely capture Donetsk would be in vain.

The second option is to neglect the south and focus on the Donetsk offensive.

This carries the risk of Ukraine’s counteroffensives in the south, further destabilizing the Zaparisia front.

If Russia loses its defensive line in the south, its entire southern Ukraine strategy could collapse.

Does it have the strength to do both? The casualty rates suggest not, and Ukraine is pressing precisely these points of vulnerability.

What we call small victories is actually a strategy of attrition that constantly forces Russia to make decisions, divides its resources, and disrupts its plans.

Each small success chips away at Russia’s grand plan.

And when these pieces accumulate, the grand plan becomes unfeasible.

Everything will be over by the spring of 2026.

The Kremlin’s entire strategy was based on this bold claim.

However, these words amounted to nothing more than Vladimir Putin’s hope, which ended in disappointment.

The plan relied on immense power.

A domino effect starting with the fall of Picrok would sweep through Slovian and throw the gates of Donetsk wide open to the Russian army.

But the Kremlin hit an unexpected wall.

Moscow’s supposedly invincible motorized divisions and elite Spettznaz units were halted by a single Ukrainian corps.

The force standing against them was the Ukrainian airborne forces.

And these units made their name known once again through the most devastating operations of March 2026.

These operations, which in just one month took 3,11 Russian soldiers out of action, liberated nine settlements, and completely disrupted Russia’s entire spring offensive plans, were one of the most effective defense counterattack combinations in modern military history.

The most shocking moment of this unique resistance, however, lies hidden in that deadly drone trap we’ll delve into shortly.

But before reaching that moment, we must see how this destruction was woven step by step.

All of this chain reaction of destruction lies within the chaotic details of the past 5 days.

On the morning of March 31st, 2026, a thick layer of fog had settled over the northwestern approaches to Hersi.

Russian forces saw this fog as an opportunity.

Units attached to the fifth motorized rifle brigade began advancing covertly under the cover of the fog.

They were accompanied by drone operators from the 57th Spettznaz battalion.

This was not a routine reconnaissance mission, but a full-scale infiltration operation.

Their objective was to penetrate Ukrainian positions undetected and reach the center of Hersa.

From there, they would seize control of the road leading to Picovsk and collapse the entire Daetsk defense line from within.

However, they had one problem.

The seventh rapid reaction corps had already spotted them.

Ukrainian paratroopers drones were piercing through the fog.

Thermal sensors were projecting every movement of the Russian units advancing under the fog onto the screens.

The position of each group was marked.

Their advanced speeds were calculated.

The moment of attack was planned down to the minute.

And just as the Russians were at their most vulnerable in open terrain, fire rained down.

Artillery and FPV drones engaged simultaneously.

A company commander was eliminated in this attack.

This single casualty triggered a domino effect.

The chain of command broke down, leaving the remaining Russian soldiers unable to receive orders.

Discipline completely collapsed in the units, which had already been suffering from food and water shortages for days.

The soldiers were left unsure of what to do.

Some tried to press forward.

The drones hunted them down.

Others attempted to retreat.

Artillery fire cut off their paths.

Not a single Russian soldier managed to enter the center of Hersa.

According to the Ukrainian general staff, a total of 29 Russian attacks in the direction of Pakovsk were repelled that day.

Russian offensives collapsed in every sector from Tetska to Mnoharad and from Rodinska to Adachna.

Let’s go back a day.

The picture was no different on March 30th.

The Russians were trying the same tactic.

A motorized assault under a screen of fog and smoke.

Infantry groups supported by ATVs, motorcycles, and light vehicles were attempting to bypass Rashinia.

The core stopped them as well.

With drone and artillery coordination, the Russian advance was once again halted.

Footage from the front showed burning Russian vehicles scattered across open terrain.

March 28th was even more dangerous.

This time the Russians tried something different.

They attacked from both flanks simultaneously using the small Pinsir tactic.

Simultaneous assaults were launched from both the Hersa and Rodinska directions.

Poor weather conditions were making it difficult for Ukraine to conduct drone reconnaissance.

The Russians were looking for an opportunity amid this chaos.

But Ukrainian paratroopers adapted.

They switched to detecting the enemy using thermal imaging and acoustic sensors.

Street battles ensued.

A Russian infiltration attempt from the eastern flank was blocked.

Russian troops were unable to make any significant advances.

The positions remained in Ukrainian hands once again.

Looking at March 27th, a broader picture emerges.

On that day, the core was not merely defending.

It was systematically cutting off the T0515 highway, the main logistics route for Russian forces with drone strikes.

Russian reserve forces could not reach the front lines.

Ammo convoys were being targeted and reinforcements were being destroyed on route.

For an army to fight on the front lines, its logistics supply line behind it must function.

Ukrainian paratroopers cut that line, and the Russians found themselves unable to both fight at the front and sustain themselves.

The same outcome persisted for 5 days.

Ukrainian paratroopers halted every attack, thwarted every infiltration attempt, and turned Russia’s Picrok fantasy into a nightmare.

But this 5-day picture is merely the final act of March.

The true devastation becomes clear when looking at the entire month.

Between March 1st and March 31st, the toll of the Ukrainian airborne forces reached staggering figures.

3,1 Russian soldiers were taken out of action.

But the losses were not limited to personnel.

6,989 unmanned aerial vehicles and 66 artillery systems were destroyed.

Three tanks, six armored vehicles, 170 motorcycles and ATVs were reduced to scrap.

These achievements belong to a single core.

And this core is holding one of Daetsk’s most critical defense lines.

Take a moment to consider what this casualty rate means.

On average, 100 Russian soldiers were taken out of action every day just by this unit alone.

Russia’s total losses in the entire Afghanistan war were approximately 15,000 people.

This core on its own inflicted 1/5if of those losses on Russia in a single month.

At this point, it is necessary to understand what the Ukrainian airborne forces are.

These units are the elite elements of the Ukrainian army.

The 7th Rapid Reaction Corps is the heart of this structure.

It includes units such as the 81st, 82nd, and 95th Brigades as well as the 132nd Reconnaissance Battalion.

This core is not a conventional defensive unit.

It defends but immediately transitions to a counterattack.

And then small assault groups break through Russian positions to establish a bridge head.

Russia’s chief offensive doctrine melted away on the front lines of these units.

And now let’s look at how a brigade attached to this core stopped the largest Russian mechanized offensive of 2026.

The 81st separate Slobanska airborne brigade is defending the Sloviansk sector.

This is the most critical line north of Daetsk.

If Russia captures this area, it will reach Cratorsk and from there the last strongholds of Daetsk.

If this line falls, the entire defensive structure in Daetsk will be at risk.

The Russians knew this and that is why they directed the largest motorized assault of 2026 right here.

On March 31st, 16 motorized units were deployed along this line.

They were moving in groups of three to four vehicles each.

The objective was to break through the positions of Ukrainian paratroopers and neighboring units.

They planned to advance rapidly, infiltrate the positions, and engage in close quarters combat.

The Russians were also attempting to control key logistics routes using remotec controlled mines and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The 81st Brigade was waiting for them.

They detected the attack early.

As soon as the motorcycle convoys emerged into open terrain, FPV drones and artillery came into play.

Using ambush and close quarters defense tactics, they destroyed the Russian convoys.

All enemy infantry were neutralized.

The brigade shared video footage via telegram, revealing the operation’s details to the world.

Sloviansk did not fall.

Kromatorsk remains in Ukrainian hands.

This victory was no accident.

The 81st Brigade had been strengthening its defensive lines in the Slovian sector for months.

Drone networks, minefields, and artillery ranges had been pre-planned.

When the Russians launched their motorized assault, they had actually walked into a trap set by the Ukrainians, and they paid a price at every step.

According to ISW reports, Russia continues to concentrate resources in the Slovian sector, but has been unable to secure a more advantageous position.

But the contribution of the airborne forces is not limited to Pakovsk and Sloviansk.

In the direction of Alexandrifka, these units broke through Russian lines and liberated nine settlements.

Art Cleop, commander of the 95th Palacier Airborne Assault Brigade, described how difficult it was to dislodge the enemy from their positions.

The Russians had established a strong defensive line with an extensive system of trenches, bunkers, and shelters.

But the Ukrainian paratroopers overcame these fortifications.

Drone units caught the Russians offg guard.

The assault groups advanced so quickly that the Russians could not deploy their reserve forces.

For the first few days, the Russians were caught completely offguard.

Then they began sending in their reserve forces, but they too arrived in small groups in motorized vehicles.

The Ukrainians detected and destroyed them as well.

Since mid January, over 400 square kilometers of territory have been recaptured in the directions of Alexandrika and Julipole.

This is Ukraine’s largest ground gain since 2023.

Russia’s advance in the south has been completely reversed.

The launch points Putin had planned for his spring summer 2026 offensive were taken directly from his hands.

From a strategic perspective, the role of these airborne units is very clear.

Russia attacks.

The airborne forces stop them.

Russia tries to infiltrate, these units hunt them down.

And the moment Russia’s strength is exhausted, the same units retake the territory with a counterattack.

This cycle operated non-stop through them.

The picture on the front lines is far broader than the operations of the airborne units.

Now, let’s look at that bigger picture.

The Russian army failed to reach its objectives in the border areas of the Sunumi, Kkefe, and Donetsk regions.

Zalinski disclosed the report he received from commander-in-chief Sir Cerski on April 1st.

The Russian army was attempting to intensify its offensive operations, but this effort only multiplied its own losses.

It has been officially confirmed that Russia failed to reach its objectives in three different sectors and has postponed its timelines again.

Coordinated Ukrainian defense demonstrated to the world that the Russian strategy has collapsed along the northern and eastern fronts.

Additionally, Ukrainian forces made progress northeast of Petrop Pavlivka in the Kupansk direction.

According to ISW data, approximately 183 square kilmters of territory in this region have come under Ukrainian control since December 2025.

In other words, Ukraine is not merely defending.

While defending, it is counterattacking.

While counterattacking, it is gaining ground.

And Russia’s dream of capturing all of Donetsk is slipping further away with each passing day.

However, things aren’t going badly for Russia only on the ground.

Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes are hitting Russia’s energy infrastructure.

The port of Luga and the Kinf refinery in Lennengrad Oblast have sustained serious damage.

The daily flow of 1.

75 million barrels of oil has decreased.

This is a blow to Russia’s economic lifeline, extending beyond the battle on the front lines, and the situation in the skies was no different.

In March, Ukraine’s air defense shot down 89.

9% of the missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Russia.

The Ministry of Defense cited the deployment of new systems and the modernization of existing platforms as the key factors behind this success.

The ministry announced that they are rapidly approaching the 95% interception target set in the war plan.

This shield in the sky is giving ground forces a breather and according to commander-in-chief Siri, Ukrainian drones increased both the number of combat sorties and the percentage of Russian targets destroyed by 55% in March compared to February.

Russia’s offensive capabilities are being eroded both on the ground and in the air, and the total cost of this erosion is now too great to hide.

Zalinsky announced that Russia has lost 89,000 military personnel since the start of the year.

This figure has already far exceeded Russia’s mobilization rate.

According to information provided by Zalinski, Russia had planned to mobilize 409,000 people by 2026.

As of the end of March, it had reached only 20 to 22% of that target.

In other words, the mobilization rate has fallen behind the rate of losses.

A closer examination of this picture reveals an even bleeer reality.

A similar trend was observed in December, January, and February.

The Kremlin is trying every means to maintain this balance.

Regional bonuses hit their peak, reaching up to 3.

6 million rubles in some regions.

Then in the same regions this figure was reduced to 400,000 rubles.

Foreign fighters were brought in.

Over 18,000 people from 128 countries fought for Russia.

Prisoners were conscripted and soldiers were recruited from the elderly and impoverished segments of the population.

According to Mediaona’s analysis, the most common age of death among Russian volunteers in 2025 was between 46 and 52.

This is a sign that the pool of young and healthy volunteers has long since been exhausted.

Russia’s manpower model is now less efficient, more expensive, and politically more fragile.

The Kremlin is trying to hide this, but reports from the front lines show that even that coverup is cracking because on the Russian front, money is now more valuable than weapons.

An investigation by The Economist describes the situation at the front as a system of extortion and punishment.

Interviews with dozens of contract soldiers in Belgarad, Luhansk, and Donetsk painted a grim picture.

Officers view their soldiers as a source of wealth.

Everything has a price.

Drones, medals, days off, and life itself.

Maxim, 26, was recruited with a 2.

5 million rubble signing bonus.

He was sent to Luhansk without even receiving training.

Of the 8 million rubles he received in total, 6 million went toward equipment and bribes.

He paid 1 million rubles to be transferred to the rear.

On top of that, he continued to pay an additional 100,000 to 150,000 rubles every month.

The first thing his commander said when he met him was, “I’ve buried 12 battalions.

You’re the 13th.

” And he added, “Only 5% of soldiers survive the attacks.

” The next day, he delivered the real message.

He explained that survival isn’t a matter of luck, but of financial means.

What Anton from the assault unit described as even more terrifying.

It starts with the pretext of collecting money, drones, or food.

But once you make a payment, he says, you’ll keep paying forever so they won’t send you to the front lines.

Ukraine’s drone wall has created a death zone at least 20 km deep, and this has given rise to a life or death economy.

Some commanders collect soldiers bank cards and pin codes before sending them into battle.

The dead are declared missing.

Commanders withdraw money from the accounts of dead soldiers at ATMs in Donetsk and Luhansk.

The fate of those who refuse to comply is far darker.

Andre Beoff met his end when he refused to hand over his injury compensation to his commanders.

The independent Russian news site Verka has verified the identities of at least 100 commanders who ordered or carried out such actions.

This is Russia’s war machine.

And what happens when this system faces professional and motivated units like Ukraine’s airborne forces? March’s toll provides the answer.

Yet Russia is still fighting, but the price it pays to sustain the war is doubling every month.

Each new wave brings a higher cost drawn from a shrinking pool and a more fragile system.

The Kremlin’s manpower machine hasn’t stopped yet.

But the question of how much longer this machine can sustain itself is now too big to ignore.

Wear and tear wars aren’t lost because one side’s troops are exhausted, but because the cost of replacing those troops becomes unsustainable.

And Ukraine’s paratroopers are becoming more effective every day at breaking the gears of this machine.

In Pokrosk, Slovansk, Alexandrifka, and every corner of the front line.

This war is not over, but everyone who sees the balance of power shifting silently on the front lines is realizing the same truth.

Russia cannot sustain this bleeding indefinitely, and the end of that period will shape not just the future of one country, but of all of Europe.

For months, they’ve been telling the whole world the same flawless lie.

Kian is an impregnable fortress, but today, in the very heart of that fortress, there is nothing but the sound of rubble and blue and yellow flags.

The Kremlin’s massive multi-billion dollar propaganda machine is being crushed beneath the rubble it created.

The Russian army’s much feared myth of invincibility is fading away second by second amid the ruined buildings of Kupansk.

Moreover, this collapse was not limited to a single front.

The shock wave rising from the city’s ruins has already reached as far north as the Sunumi border.

The Ukrainian flags raised one after another have wiped out the war’s entire strategic balance in a single stroke.

A perfect storm, now the Russian general’s nightmare, is raging, engulfing both fronts.

In these lands that Putin wanted to keep on his map at any cost, the history of the war is being rewritten right now.

In a moment, we will descend into the heart of this hell, right into the midst of those relentless battles that are shaping the fate of the front lines.

But before we decipher how that unimaginable trap, which reduced the Kremlin’s most elite units to ashes in seconds, worked and the secret strategy deployed by the Ukrainian army, we must go back to that first breaking point when everything spiraled completely out of control.

Kupansk.

The city has been under heavy Ukrainian control in recent days.

Even Kremlin aligned sources are now helpless to hide this crushing defeat on the ground.

Famous Russian war blogger Rybar was forced to admit to all his followers that the city center of Kupansk has effectively come under Ukrainian control.

The latest writings by Yuri Podolyaka, one of the Russian military’s top propagandists, paint a picture of utter despair and helplessness.

The plans to occupy Kupansk, which Garasimov and Putin had presented with great fanfare just 4 months ago, have literally evaporated.

Russian soldiers who had established their last stronghold at the city’s central hospital endured a horrific siege for exactly 100 days.

The Russian command abandoned these soldiers to their fate, committing a massive military failure.

These units, which had been struggling to survive on meager supplies dropped by drones, have now been completely neutralized.

Zlog author Romanov confirms that these Russian soldiers were completely wiped out in the unequal battle against Ukrainian forces.

However, the Kremlin will likely never officially acknowledge these losses and they won’t tell the families the truth because on Russia’s official maps, Kupansk had already been liberated and on paper there was supposed to be no fighting there.

This massive and systematic lie has gone down in history as one of the heaviest blows Russia has suffered in the information war.

The current military reality on the ground, however, is turning March 2026 into a nightmare for Russia.

According to militarian, a massive 80 to 90% of the city of Kupansk is under the absolute control of Ukrainian forces.

The remaining isolated and exhausted Russian units are fighting for survival, trapped in the city’s eastern and southeastern outskirts.

Behind this major and stunning success lies the Ukrainian army’s flawless military planning.

In the early months of 2026, the elite Cartia Battalion, part of the second national guard corps, proudly raised the Ukrainian flag on the roof of the Kupansk city council building.

This historic and symbolic moment served as the clearest and most indisputable proof that the heart of the city has been completely cleared of Russian occupiers today.

The third assault brigade and the fourth battalion reconnaissance and strike group also played extremely critical and decisive roles in this dangerous operation.

Ukraine’s experienced units advanced street by street, building by building, effectively shattering Russian defensive lines.

However, the Ukrainian forces did not face ordinary units in Kupansk during this process.

The Kremlin had deployed elements of the first guards tank army and the 20th combined arms army among its most trusted units to Kupansk.

Among these military units were also highly specialized Russian units.

Some of these were heavy armored units affiliated with the 27th motorized infantry brigade and the 47th tank division.

However, these Russian military groups could not hold their ground against Ukraine’s dynamic tactics.

The intensity and destructiveness of the clashes on this front reached unimaginable levels.

In just the first 3 weeks of March 2026, over 50 major and intense clashes occurred in the Kupansk direction.

Ukrainian forces broke through Russian defenses south of Pishane and near Podolei, achieving new tactical advances.

Russian commanders, in an attempt to halt the collapse at the front, disregarded casualties and continuously deployed new and inexperienced troops to the battlefield to such an extent that inexperienced Russian soldiers whose basic military training periods were reduced from 1 month to just one week were literally sent into a hopeless situation.

Osent sources report that in a single offensive in Kupansk, 405 out of 500 Russian soldiers deployed were neutralized within seconds.

This was one of the most devastating Ukrainian operations in recent times.

The losses Russia sustained following this operation have led to a situation that is simply unsustainable and such high casualty rates are eroding the very backbone of the Russian army from within.

So why is the liberation of Kupansk by Ukraine of such vital importance for the fate of the war? The answer to this question lies in the war’s hidden underbelly, namely the logistics networks that form the lifeblood of the Russian army.

Kupansk was the most critical and indispensable hub of the massive Russian supply line stretching from Belgar deep into the Donbos.

With the city’s complete fall, this main Russian logistics artery has been severed beyond repair.

As a result, Russian forces are now forced to resupply troops, heavy ammunition, and fuel via corsk, or much longer and riskier alternative routes.

This forced rerouting immediately reduced the Russian army’s logistical operational speed at the front by 30 to 40%.

The Russian Western group, currently stationed along the Belgrad border, is facing a severe shortage of fuel and ammunition.

Due to the logistics crisis, the offensive capabilities of Russian forces have been shattered, and their tanks are unable to even reach the front lines due to a lack of fuel.

The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, is ruthlessly exploiting the logistical chaos into which its enemy has fallen.

Ukrainian drones and extended range artillery batteries launching from the Kupansk area, are picking off Russian supply convoys heading toward Belgar one by one.

This victory is not merely a tactical gain of territory.

It also signifies the construction of a massive and impenetrable defensive shield.

The Ukrainian army now possesses a much deeper secure defensive line in the Kkefe region that Russian armored vehicles cannot easily breach.

A massive buffer zone favoring Ukraine against Belgar and other Russian border cities has effectively been established.

Events in Kupansk also played a role in the formation of this defensive shield.

Moreover, the capture of the city even has the potential to influence the fate of future frontline battles.

The Russian military’s spring summer 2026 offensive plans on which they had pinned great hopes have suffered a severe blow due to the defeat at Kupansk and will be delayed by months.

In the long term, this city will serve as an excellent logistics hub and springboard for upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensives.

Furthermore, the victory at Kupansk will once again indisputably place the psychological advantage and moral strength of the war firmly in Ukraine’s hands.

Looking a bit further north to the Sunumi front, we can clearly see that Russia’s ambitions have been dashed just as they were in Kupansk.

For weeks, Russian sources have been pumping out false reports of victories claiming they had captured border villages in the Sunumi region.

However, with the Ukrainian Army’s deployment to the field, this wave of lies hit a very hard rock.

Soldiers from the Ukrainian armed forces 14th Army Corps made a decisive advance into the strategic village of Pukovka in southeastern Sunumi.

A massive Ukrainian national flag was raised to fly a top the tall water tower right in the center of the village.

This bold move was the most concrete and resounding response on the ground to the Russians claims that they had established control in that area.

Ukrainian forces continue to maintain complete control over artillery and drone fire superiority in the region.

Russian forces dreams of establishing a buffer zone along the Sunumi border are shattering against Ukraine’s ironclad resistance.

Although they occasionally attempt small-scale infiltrations along the border, the military balance in the region remains firmly in Ukraine’s favor.

In other words, following Sunumi, Ukraine is securing a double victory against Russian forces along the northeastern front lines, including Kupansk.

Now, let’s shift our attention slightly south to the Lyman Bova sector, where the war’s most intense and brutal face is being played out.

Here, the Russian army has launched a massive mechanized assault wave, seemingly driven to madness, risking everything.

Their primary objective was to split the Ukrainian defense lines in two, and make a deep advance directly towards Slovian.

To achieve this ambitious goal, they organized a simultaneous and extremely dangerous offensive plan across seven different fronts.

Over 500 infantrymen and exactly 28 heavy armored vehicles rapidly moved toward the Ukrainian trenches.

However, the most intriguing and perhaps the most desperate move by Russian commanders in this assault was the inclusion of over 100 motorcycles and light off-road vehicles in the attack.

They believed they could reach the Ukrainian trenches at incredible speed across open terrain and evade the drones in the sky.

However, this bizarre tactic turned into a complete disaster in the face of the Ukrainian defens’s composure.

Ukrainian artillery and anti-tank units neutralized this massive convoy of iron before it could even reach the trenches.

In this clash, which lasted only a few hours, the Ukrainian army took out three tanks, 11 infantry fighting vehicles, and 84 light vehicles.

Over 160 Russian kamicazi drones, which nearly darkened the sky, were blinded and neutralized by Ukraine’s advanced electronic warfare systems.

The cost of this massive show of force was horrific and irreparable for Russia.

Exactly 405 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in this senseless and poorly planned assault without even reaching the trenches.

Despite all these losses, not a single Ukrainian position was captured, and not a single millimeter of ground was gained on the map.

When military coordination collapsed under heavy pressure, it was proven once again that Russia’s massive paper-based firepower was utterly useless.

Ukraine’s FPV drone operators and precision artillery batteries effectively herded this massive mechanized column into an open killing field.

Looking at the broader picture, the Kremlin’s much anticipated spring summer offensive is already suffering losses on the ground before it has even fully begun.

Russian forces are throwing all their might into breaking through Ukraine’s unbreakable fortress belt in the Daetsk region at any cost.

They are attempting to exert intense pressure on Ukrainian lines, particularly in the strategically vital directions of Slovansk and Crematorsk.

To achieve this, they are relentlessly dropping massive Kab 30000 guided glide bombs, which rain death from the sky onto the front lines.

At the same time, they aim to paralyze Ukraine’s logistics lines in the rear with thousands of Lancet and Molia drones.

However, rather than merely conducting a static defense from their trenches, Ukrainian forces are employing a highly active, mobile, and attritional tactic.

The current situation around Chasivyar, one of the war’s key points, is the clearest indication of this active defense.

Some critical positions in the center of Chasivyar, which the Russians had captured after months of bloody fighting and thousands of casualties, have once again come under Ukrainian control.

Ukrainian units are constantly destabilizing Russian lines with sudden counterattacks launched at unexpected moments.

In the direction of Pocrs, another hot spot, clashes are continuing fiercely in forested areas.

Although Russian forces are making small tactical gains here by deploying massive human waves, the price they are paying in blood is staggering.

They are attempting to infiltrate Ukrainian lines in small infantry groups, trying to evade the relentless Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance overhead.

However, Kiev’s most experienced battalion commanders are rapidly analyzing the enemy’s new tactics and immediately updating their own strategies.

The Ukrainian army is waging a parallel attrition war alongside trench warfare, delivering the decisive blow to Russian logistics behind the front lines.

Medium and long-range missiles along with swarms of kamicazi drones turn Russian command centers and ammunition depots into hell every night.

For example, a critical Russian command post in Periscovivka and an unmanned system center extending all the way to Marupople were leveled by these successful nighttime operations.

The math of the war is crystal clear.

As Russia approaches Ukraine’s fortress belt, it is losing more and more soldiers by crashing them into these concrete and steel walls.

Now, when we look at the southernmost part of this massive front, the Zaparisia lines, we see a situation that resembles a tense chess match.

Although Russian forces are attempting armored assaults in the Julipole and Ori, they simply cannot break through Ukraine’s fierce and organized defense.

The fighting in this region is largely locked in a stalemate characterized by intense artillery duels and relentless FPV drone hunts by both sides.

Ukraine is crippling the enemy’s armored mobility by striking Russian repair and maintenance facilities deep within occupied Zaparisia.

The war is now being felt with full force, not only in muddy trenches, but also in the heart of Russia and its industrial centers.

Ukraine’s domestically produced long range kamicazi drones are crossing borders to target Russia’s economic lifelines.

The events at the massive Seratov oil refinery and strategic chemical facilities in the Samara region are among the clearest examples.

Both facilities were engulfed in flames throughout the night they were attacked.

Even Russian military and logistical targets thousands of kilometers away from the front lines are no longer safe from Ukraine’s wrath.

While all this chaos unfolds at the front, the Russian military leadership is also suffering severe blows at the officer level.

The precise elimination of a Russian airborne battalion commander near Oleski in the Keran direction once again demonstrates just how lethal Ukrainian intelligence operations are.

Another significant development is unfolding on the aviation front.

Ukrainian forces are using fiber optic drones to take down Russia’s most valuable combat helicopters, the CA 52s, one after another.

As the toll of these military defeats mounts, the Kremlin’s desperate retaliatory measures are drawing attention.

Although the Russian military continues to risk air strikes on Ukrainian cities to vent its frustration over the results it cannot achieve on the ground, they are failing to create the desired impact.

Of the 154 kamicazi drones launched in Russia’s latest attack, 148 were easily destroyed in midair by Ukraine’s mobile fire groups and air defense systems.

All these raw data points from the battlefield and the historic turning points that have occurred paint a very clear picture.

Ukraine is resisting.

Ukraine is fighting intelligently.

And most importantly, Ukraine is winning step by step.

The liberation of Kupansk is merely a brief preview of the major Ukrainian victories to come and the impending collapse of the Russian military.

On the dynamic battlefield, the initiative is slowly but surely shifting entirely into Ukraine’s hands following intense frontline clashes.

All of the Kremlin’s dark schemes and propaganda lies are crumbling and vanishing day by day in the face of the Ukrainian people’s iron will.

This devastating collapse on the ground is in fact merely the terrestrial reflection of a far greater strategic defeat.

Let us turn our gaze to southern Ukraine to the waters of the Black Sea and Crimea, areas Russia once deemed unreachable and untouchable.

The grim reality of the situation unfolding in this corridor is laid bare in all its starkness for the Kremlin.

Russia’s legendary Black Sea fleet has, in the truest sense of the word, turned into a massive heap of scrap metal, desperately searching for a hole to hide in within its own ports.

Those grand military parades in Sevastaple have given way to the sound of sirens wailing in the dead of night and the flames of burning warships on the seas surface.

Ukraine’s Mura V5 and new generation autonomous unmanned surface vehicles have established absolute and indisputable superiority at sea by chasing the Russian Navy all the way to the farthest corners of the Novarosk port.

Russian frigots and submarines, which once claimed to be the masters of the Black Sea, are now unable to even venture out of port because every Russian ship that sets sail becomes the target of Ukraine’s ruthless and invisible naval drones within seconds, sinking into the Black Sea’s cold waters.

This absolute naval dominance is also irreversibly altering the fate of Crimea, one of the war’s most critical choke points.

The Kirch Bridge, Putin’s flagship prestige project, has completely lost its military logistics transport capacity after sustaining a series of precision missile strikes.

In this scenario, where land connections have become unreliable and resupply by sea has become impossible, the Crimean Peninsula is turning into a massive inescapable trap for the Russian army.

The massive ammunition depots, fuel storage facilities, and S400 air defense systems within the peninsula are being targeted every night with millimeter level precision by Ukraine’s long range attackums and Neptune missiles.

In short, this liberation operation, which began in Kupansk and has spread across all front lines, stretching from Sunumi to Crimea, is on the verge of shattering all of Russia’s plans.

Vladimir Putin may be choosing to ignore this tragic outcome.

However, as we approach the end of March, the situation could spiral completely out of control for the Russians.

The heavy defeats suffered in ground battles could push matters to an irreversible point for Putin.

You don’t always need greater force to destroy a war machine.

You devise a flawless plan to make your enemy destroy itself, and you can achieve great victories without suffering a single loss.

That is exactly what happened in Donetsk.

A simulation of a flawless victory is currently playing out in Moscow’s command centers.

Maps showing the Lyman corridor north of Donetsk are marked with massive red arrows devouring the Slovian Sky Highway.

The Kremlin believes that the tens of thousands of troops it has been piling into this narrow corridor for months have finally shattered the Ukrainian defense and that an unstoppable advance has begun.

Yet, there is a deadly anomaly that those maps never show.

that radars cannot detect and that Moscow fails to notice.

There is no defensive line emerging to meet them in those dark forests they believe they are advancing through.

Russian tanks are not breaking through a line.

They are being drawn into a meticulously designed massive death trap.

Here there is an invisible web of infiltration swallowing the Russians step by step.

In a moment, you will witness how a massive invasion force advancing with cries of conquest is actually marching voluntarily into its own logistical grave.

The top ranking generals in the Kremlin are deceiving Putin.

The maps Garasimoff presented to Putin show massive progress.

It is reported that half of Lyman has come under Russian control.

It is announced that 12 settlements have been captured.

The map on the table is bright, the arrows bold, the colors in Russia’s favor.

However, the reality on the ground is completely disconnected from this paper victory in the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces are holding the village of Ozernnev firmly.

And that’s not all.

Along the southern Yample axis, Ukrainian units have actively advanced rather than remaining on the defensive, penetrating deep into Russian positions.

The city of Lyman itself is unquestionably under full Ukrainian control.

The question that must be asked here is how is Ukraine repelling massive Russian armored units.

The answer lies in the evolving war doctrine.

The Ukrainian army is not conducting traditional large-scale frontal assaults in the Lyman and Yample regions.

There are no massive Soviet style artillery preparations or noisy assaults involving hundreds of tanks.

Instead, small, highly mobile infiltration groups, what we might call silent knives, are being used.

Ukrainian special forces units of 5 to 10 personnel equipped with night vision gear are infiltrating behind Russian positions by utilizing forest lines and the ruins of destroyed villages.

These groups coordinating in real time with drones provide precise intelligence for artillery while also carrying out pinpoint raids on local command centers.

The gains in Ozerna and Yample were achieved through this systematic and attritional tactic.

So, how is the Russian command reporting this situation to their superiors? This is the very point that is dragging Putin into disaster.

An incident on the Zaparisia front laid bare this structural mechanism of deception in all its nakedness.

High-ranking staff officers from Russia’s 29th Army went to inspect the command post of the 36th motorized rifle brigade under their command.

The brigade commanders laid out an enormous victory map on the table.

The map marked extensive territorial gains, captured strategic villages, and fortified positions.

However, before approving the map, the staff officers sent a reconnaissance drone into the sky to see the local situation with their own eyes.

The image that appeared on the screen was a complete scandal.

The red zones on the map bore no resemblance whatsoever to the actual situation on the ground.

The gains existed only on paper.

The units were not at the designated points and the villages claimed to have been captured were under Ukrainian control.

This incident is not an isolated lie but a symptom of a deadly virus that has infiltrated the Russian army.

In the armies of authoritarian regimes, information from the field becomes distorted as it moves up the chain of command.

Since failure is punished, the system begins to produce lies.

These lies within the chain of command paved the way for an even greater strategic disaster in the south.

Russia’s 2026 plans were clear.

The main theater of the major offensive in the spring and summer would be Zaparisia.

The Kremlin’s plan was to launch a major breakthrough operation from the Orix access toward the city of Zaparisia, bring the city within range of tube artillery and encircle the industrial center from two flanks.

Starting in midFebruary, logistical preparations were being made according to this plan.

However, the Ukrainian side did not merely monitor Russia’s preparations.

With a proactive active defense move, they decided to neutralize the attack at its source before it began.

According to the latest data from independent analysts and the ISW, the Ukrainian forces unexpected advances in the south have completely disrupted Russia’s entire spring plans.

Over the past week, Ukrainian units have recaptured Sichv.

They established control in Rib.

In the most critical move, they came within just 2 km of the main Russian supply route near Julie Pole.

There is a rule in military logistics.

You do not need to physically block the enemy’s supply route to cut it off.

It is sufficient to bring the route under fire control, meaning within the range of artillery and FPV drones.

Ukraine’s advance to within 2 km of that route turned all Russian convoys using it into sitting ducks.

Placing a logistics line under fire means that thousands of Russian soldiers relying on that route are left without ammunition, fuel, or evacuation.

This situation has a far more devastating effect than a direct bloody assault on the front lines.

Russia’s response to this crisis underscores the gravity of the situation.

To prevent the line from collapsing entirely, the Russian command, in a state of panic, was forced to pull Pacific Fleet Marine brigades from entirely different regions of the country and deploy them directly to the defensive line in Zaparisia.

In fact, a reserve regiment that had not been seen on the front line since August 2025 suddenly appeared in the defensive trenches.

This means the following.

Russia is currently depleting the elite reserve units it has been building up and training for months for a major offensive in the east merely to hold the current line in the south.

This is precisely the reality highlighted in ISW’s March 16th assessment.

Every reserve battalion Russia pulls south and expends on defense means Putin’s spring offensive shrinks by another piece.

An army that had been building up for an offensive has suddenly found itself desperately defending.

This is definitive proof that strategic initiative has been completely lost.

By striking not where the enemy is strong, but at its vulnerable underbelly during the preparation phase, Ukraine has rendered the Kremlin’s monthslong planning obsolete in just a few weeks.

This loss of initiative on the southern front was merely the visible face of Ukraine’s much broader strategy.

If Putin truly wants to understand why his army cannot advance, he must look not at the front line, but hundreds of kilometers behind it, at the logistics centers.

On March 16th and 17th, 2026, Ukraine’s special operations forces launched a massive coordinated wave of attacks using longrange FP1/2 unmanned aerial vehicles against the logistics networks that form the backbone of Russia’s entire war machine.

The selection of these targets was not random.

They were surgical operations aimed entirely at blinding, deafening, and immobilizing the Russian army.

A massive supply depot, generator complexes, and most importantly, an electronic warfare station at the Kerson’s airfield in Sevastapole were destroyed.

The destruction of the electronic warfare system means that the entire Russian airspace in that region is now fully open to Ukrainian drones.

According to data from the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, during the same time frame, a tour M2U air defense system worth billions of rubles which was on patrol in Briansk was destroyed.

In occupied Crimea, the coordinates of the Bastion coastal missile system were identified and struck in Daetsk.

The communication center in Mangush was disabled.

The fuel depot in Melotop turned into a massive fireball.

Ammunition depots in Stepppenoi and Tarpenia were blown up.

In the Kersan region, a drone training center where Russia was training its future operators was destroyed along with the personnel inside.

The UAV control points in Julip and Oat Noy were neutralized.

We must focus closely on this analysis.

None of the targets struck were the frontline trenches or infantry units.

Ukraine isn’t just cutting off fingers.

It’s severing the arteries leading directly to the heart.

In modern warfare, a T90 tank without ammunition is nothing more than a 46-tonon pile of expensive metal.

A convoy of armored personnel carriers without fuel is nothing more than coffins waiting in the middle of the road.

A Russian commander whose command center has been struck is a deaf and mute man unable to issue orders to his troops.

If you hit the enemy’s tank on the front lines, a new one will arrive.

But if you strike the enemy’s repair base, even a simple track malfunction on the front lines will force that tank to retreat hundreds of kilometers back to the Russian mainland.

This means the logistics network is completely paralyzed.

In just the past few months, Ukrainian drone units have destroyed tens of thousands of pieces of Russian military equipment and personnel, not by fighting them directly, but by stripping them of their capacity to fight.

Putin’s army may appear superior in terms of troop numbers on the front lines, but the moment you can’t supply those soldiers with food, ammunition, and fuel, that massive army ceases to be one.

It simply turns into a panicked mass struggling to survive.

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