Ukrainian forces have stepped up activity near Hulyaipole, but not as part of a counteroffensive, Ukraine’s military says. Pro-war Russian bloggers (“Z-channels”) are spreading false claims about a supposed Ukrainian “counteroffensive” and about shifts in the front line, according to Ukraine’s Defense Forces in the south. Ukrainian officials say Russian troops briefly entered a village before being swiftly cleared out.
Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the Defense Forces of the South, told RBC-Ukraine that Ukrainian troops conduct daily “clearing” operations against Russian assault groups attempting to infiltrate Ukrainian positions. He said Russia is portraying these routine actions as a “counteroffensive,” which is not taking place. Voloshyn also said a Russian-published front-line map is inaccurate, claiming the fighting is actually 12–14 kilometers in the opposite direction.
His comments came hours after Z-channels reported a Ukrainian advance. Voloshyn described the Ukrainian actions as “reconnaissance-and-search operations,” carried out up to 20 times a day to neutralize Russian sabotage groups. “From a military standpoint, these actions are not a counteroffensive,” he said.
Russian outlets also circulated a map suggesting a significant westward shift of the front near Hulyaipole, placing Ternovate, Nechaivka, Andriivka, Otradne, Novooleksandrivka, Alekseyevka (near Pokrovske), Sosnivka and Orestopil in the occupied zone. The Ukrainian command’s representative said Russian forces remain far from Pokrovske and have not taken Ternovate.
According to Voloshyn, small Russian groups try to push deeper into Ukrainian lines and then present those brief incursions as the capture of new settlements. Ukrainian troops, he said, quickly “clear” such groups. He cited Ternovate as an example, saying Russia reported seizing the village even though the front line is actually 10–15 kilometers away. “They were there for only a few hours before being destroyed by our forces,” the press officer said.
In its morning report on February 9, Ukraine’s General Staff showed the front line running along the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in the Hulyaipole sector. According to the General Staff, both Ternovate and Dobropillya remain under Ukrainian control.
