Overview

• Russian units captured the tiny settlements of Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka near the Dnipropetrovsk–Donetsk–Zaporizhzhia border, the first reported footholds in the Dnipropetrovsk region in more than three years.
• Ukraine’s volunteer mapping project DeepState reflected the gains after months in which the Ukrainian General Staff rejected claims of incursions into the region.
• Reporting highlights extensive militarization across occupied areas, with Donetsk airport resurfaced and retooled with new facilities that OSINT sources say could support increased long-range drone operations.
• In Crimea and along the Sea of Azov, former resorts have been converted into barracks and logistics nodes serving as both launchpad and supply base for forces in southern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian reporting cited by Italian media.
• Analysts, including ISW, warn that Russia’s network of forward bases expands operational reach and could influence stalled negotiations, even if the newly seized settlements are small and of limited standalone military value.