In early February 2026, Ukraine’s military halted Russian forces at the junction of the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions and launched a counteroffensive.
Ukrainian troops have liberated new areas at that junction - territory Russian forces aimed to use to advance on Orikhiv and Vilniansk - military analyst Bohdan Myroshnykov said.
According to him, Ukraine also made additional gains on the Hulyaipole axis, leveling the front in several sectors. Russian forces had planned to seize bridgeheads on the western bank of the Haichur River to continue their push in the Zaporizhzhia region, but Ukrainian troops drove them out.
Myroshnykov stressed these are only preliminary results of the counteroffensive in this area and said operations are ongoing. He believes Ukrainian units should move toward Uspenivka and encircle it (a settlement in the Zaporizhzhia region previously captured by Russian forces). He added that while the tempo of the counteroffensive has eased recently, Ukrainian assault actions continue.
Russia began its push toward the city of Hulyaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region in late October 2025. It captured several settlements before being stopped by Ukrainian forces. Fighting now continues around Hulyaipole and Zheleznodorozhnoye, as well as to the north—at the junction of the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
According to Ukraine’s General Staff, yesterday, March 3, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions 25 times on the Hulyaipole front. Ukrainian troops repelled all the assaults. Clashes took place near Hulyaipole and toward Zhaliznodorozhne, Varvarivka, Hulyaipilske, Staroukrainka and other locations.
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said roughly 400 square kilometers of territory have been liberated in the counteroffensive at the junction of the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and eight settlements have been recaptured.
