Situation 'tense' as Russian troops try to enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian military says

Russian forces continue their efforts to break into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces reported on June 8, saying that the situation around the 31st Separate Brigade’s positions remains “tense.”

“The enemy has not abandoned its plans to enter Dnipropetrovsk Oblast,” the Southern Defense Forces wrote on Telegram. “Our soldiers are bravely and professionally holding their section of the front, thwarting the occupier’s plans.”

The comment follows the Russian Defense Ministry’s June 8 claim that its forces had entered Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed this, and no independent evidence has surfaced so far to support the Russian statement.

The 31st Brigade is deployed in the Novopavlivka direction, where Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts converge. Since 2014, Russian aggression has heavily impacted Donetsk Oblast, while Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has remained free from direct incursions.

On May 21, Ukrainian officials rejected similar claims that Russian troops had reached Dnipropetrovsk Oblast’s administrative boundary.

Serhii Lysak, head of the regional military administration, called the reports “fake,” citing doctored photos allegedly showing Russian soldiers in the area.

The Ukrainian monitoring project DeepState analyzed one such image and determined it had been taken in Troitske, a village in Donetsk Oblast.

As a precaution, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast began mandatory evacuations of children and families from four front-line villages in late April — Kolona Mezhova, Novopidhorodne, Raipole, and Sukhareva Balka — located just 5 to 15 kilometers from Russian positions.

Despite the lack of verified ground incursions, Dnipropetrovsk has endured frequent Russian missile, drone, and aerial attacks since the full-scale invasion began.

The ongoing Russian advance occurs as peace efforts remain stalled, and U.S.-brokered negotiations have failed to achieve a ceasefire.

US expects Russia’s retaliation for Operation Spiderweb to continue soon

One official told Reuters that while the timing remains unclear, a retaliatory strike could be expected in the coming days and is likely to be “asymmetrical.”

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy