TESTIMONY: On the Lyman-Sloviansk Front, Russia Infiltrates Without Advancing — the Line Holds

Russian Offensives That Make No Progress

In the Sloviansk direction, Russian forces continued their offensive operations on June 26 and 27, 2026 — without advancing. That is the formula repeated in the ISW (Institute for the Study of War) assessment of June 27, 2026: the Russians push, they strike, they try — but Ukrainian lines hold. This is not stagnation. It is resistance under constant pressure, in one of the most contested zones of the front.

The head of the Sloviansk military administration, Vadym Lyakh, reported that Russian forces conducted an MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) strike against the city using cluster munitions. Geolocated images published on June 27 show Russian forces conducting a FAB-1500 guided glide bomb strike in the eastern part of Mykolaivka, east of Sloviansk. The FAB-1500 is one of the most destructive bombs used by Russia in this war.

Zakitne: The Ambush of One Soldier Against Three

In the Sloviansk direction, the village of Zakitne is largely under Russian control. But a Ukrainian soldier, sheltered in the ruins of a private home, faced three Russian soldiers who were searching the area. The Ukrainian soldier first threw a grenade, then opened fire with small arms. Result: two Russian soldiers killed, one wounded who managed to flee. This street combat, documented by the Conflict Intelligence Team (CITEAM), illustrates the nature of this war in its most intimate dimensions.

One soldier, alone, in ruins. Three enemies. A grenade. That is war in its most naked expression. I was not there — I make no claim to have been. But this account documented by CITEAM says something essential about what this war costs in human terms, second by second, village by village.

Ukraine Holds Its Positions and Counter-Attacks

In the Kupyansk direction, linked to that of Lyman, Russian forces continued their offensive operations on June 26 and 27 without advancing — because Ukrainian forces have recently advanced or held their positions east of Kupyansk. A Russian milblogger published a map indicating that Ukrainian forces have recently advanced or held their positions east of Podoly, east of Kupyansk. This detail is significant: it is the Russians themselves — through their own propagandists — who confirm the absence of progress.

Further north, in the Kharkiv direction, Russian forces also failed to advance — because Ukrainian forces counter-attacked. Ukraine is not passive on this sector of the front. It absorbs Russian attacks and strikes back, maintaining defensive pressure that costs the attackers dearly in men and materiel.

The Siverskyi Donets Salient: The Ukrainian Pocket in Russian-Held Territory

CITEAM documents a little-known fact: a Ukrainian salient extends along the Siverskyi Donets River deep into Russian-controlled territory, where fighting remains active and Ukrainian troops have even set ambushes. Ukrainian drone operators in the surrounding forests continue to strike Russian positions at Kalenyky and Rai-Oleksandrivka. This is not a zone Ukraine has abandoned — it is a zone where it actively fights, using asymmetric methods adapted to the terrain.

A Ukrainian salient in Russian-held territory, ambushes set in forests, drones striking from the trees. This image is far from that of a retreating army. This is an army fighting for every centimeter, with ingenuity, in the worst conditions.

AI in the Service of Propaganda

The ISW reveals that the Russian Ministry of Defense published images likely altered by artificial intelligence of flag-raising events as part of a cognitive warfare effort designed to exaggerate Russian advances. These doctored images are intended to demoralize Ukrainians, mislead international opinion, and bolster domestic Russian morale. It is a deliberate, documented tactic — and an increasingly transparent one.

Ukrainian spokesman Volodymyr Polevyi of the 7th Airborne Rapid Assault Corps confirmed that Russian forces continue to claim they have taken Pokrovsk, despite slow Russian progress and continued Ukrainian presence in the northern part of the city. This gap between Russian claims and the reality on the ground is systematic — and documented week after week.

The FAB-1500 and MLRS: The Terror Tactic Against Sloviansk

MLRS strikes with cluster munitions and FAB-1500 guided glide bomb strikes against Sloviansk and its surroundings are aimed at forcing defenders to abandon their positions under the pressure of long-range strikes. The FAB-1500, weighing 1.5 tons, is devastating against buildings and fortified positions. Its use illustrates the Russian tactic of using raw firepower to compensate for tactical failures.

AI-doctored images to simulate victories. FAB-1500 bombs on civilian cities. Russia uses digital propaganda and physical destruction simultaneously as weapons of war. One to deceive the world. The other to crush human beings. Both are crimes — of different orders, but crimes.

Hornet Drones Against 12 Russian Artillery Pieces

In response to Russian offensives, Ukraine is conducting a continuous medium-range strike campaign in occupied Luhansk and Donetsk. A Ukrainian brigade operating in the Donetsk region reported destroying, through Hornet drone strikes along the M-30 Donetsk-Pokrovsk highway, 12 artillery pieces, one self-propelled artillery system, one BM-21 Grad MLRS, three command posts, and four engineer vehicles and trucks. This type of systematic strike on Russian support forces cumulatively degrades enemy offensive capability.

These medium-range drone strikes on Russian supply routes are part of the logistical degradation doctrine that Ukraine applies across the entire front. Destroying artillery pieces and engineer vehicles before they even reach their firing positions is more effective than engaging them once they are in place. This is preemptive counter-battery by drone.

The Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka Direction: Another Line Under Pressure

In the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka and Dobropillya directions, Russian forces also continued their operations on June 26 and 27 without advancing. These sectors, less covered in the media than Pokrovsk, are secondary pressure points that Russia maintains to disperse Ukrainian defenses and reduce Kyiv's ability to concentrate its reserves on a single decisive sector.

Russia attacks on all fronts simultaneously — not to win everywhere, but to exhaust everywhere. It is a strategy of total attrition aimed at saturating Ukrainian defensive capabilities. Ukraine responds with the same logic, but with drones rather than men. That is the asymmetry that could make the difference.

Operations Without Confirmed Advances

In the Novopavlivka and Oleksandrivka directions, Russian forces continued their operations on June 26 and 27 without achieving confirmed advances. These sectors of the Zaporizhzhia front are regularly cited in military assessments as zones of constant pressure but limited results for Russia. The Russian army is not breaking through — it is wearing down, testing, searching for the gap.

Previous updates published by the Ukrainian general staff have documented Ukrainian counter-offensives in these sectors, notably at Oleksandrivka and Huliaipole. These limited land-reclamation actions, even small in scope, demonstrate that Ukraine is not in an exclusively defensive posture — it seeks to reclaim tactical initiative on targeted sectors when conditions allow.

The Logic of Attrition: Who Gets Exhausted First?

The central question of this phase of the war is not who advances, but who gets exhausted first. Russia mobilizes continuously, at a rate of approximately 29,500 new soldiers per month according to Western estimates. But it is losing soldiers at a rate that exceeds its recruitment capacity in its unmanned systems units. And its materiel losses — 12,066 tanks, 44,969 artillery systems on the Ukrainian count as of June 29, 2026 — represent an irreplaceable depletion.

12,066 Russian tanks destroyed. 44,969 artillery systems. I don't know if these figures are 100% accurate — they are Ukrainian counts. But even at 70% truth, they describe an army that has burned through decades of accumulated materiel capital. And that cannot be replaced in a few years.

Russians Claim to Have Taken the City — It's False

Russian forces continue to claim they have seized Pokrovsk — a strategic city in the Donetsk region that represents a crucial road and logistics hub. The reality documented by the ISW and confirmed by Ukrainian spokesman Polevyi is different: continued Ukrainian presence in the northern part of the city, slow Russian progress. The city has not fallen.

This gap between Russian claims and the reality on the ground in Pokrovsk is emblematic of the Kremlin's systematic disinformation. It serves Russian domestic interests — showing victories to justify the losses — and seeks to discourage Western support for Ukraine. Ukrainian counter-communication, factual and documented, is essential to combating this narrative.

The Cognitive Battle Is Also a Front

The ISW documented that Russian images doctored by AI are used as part of a cognitive warfare effort to falsely depict Ukrainian lines as on the verge of collapse. This tactic targets multiple audiences: the Russian population, which needs victories to accept sacrifices; third countries, whose support may waver; and Ukrainians themselves, whose morale is a strategic target.

Ukraine simultaneously fights two wars: that of arms and that of truth. On the war of arms, the facts are what they are — lines that hold. On the war of truth, Ukraine must do more than hold — it must win. Because if the Russian narrative prevails, even solid allies can waver.

A War of Attrition Where Holding Counts as Victory

Week after week, in the Lyman-Sloviansk direction, the operational result is the same: Russian forces attack, Ukrainian lines hold, and the Russians make no progress. In a war of attrition, holding constitutes a relative victory. Every day the line does not move is a day Russia spends human and material resources without territorial gain. Over time, this logic is untenable for Moscow.

Ukraine's ability to maintain its lines in this direction while simultaneously conducting deep strikes in Crimea, operations in the Black Sea, and counter-offensives in other sectors, testifies to a military organization that has considerably evolved since 2022. This is not the same army. It is a more experienced force, better equipped, with a more coherent doctrine.

The Incomplete Testimony of a War Documented From a Distance

What I can offer from here is a testimony of available information — ISW assessments, CITEAM dispatches, official Ukrainian communications. I was not in the trenches of Zakitne. I did not see the Russian soldiers approaching in the half-light. What I can do is assemble these fragments of documented reality and render them honestly. That is the only testimony I am able to offer.

The Ukrainian soldier in the ruins of Zakitne. The Hornet drones destroying 12 Russian artillery pieces on the M-30 highway. The salient holding in the forests of the Siverskyi Donets. These are fragments of this war. I don't claim to totalize them. I claim to report them faithfully.

Russian Pressure on Central Donbas

The Pokrovsk direction remains one of the most active on the front. Russian forces continued their offensive operations there on June 26 and 27, 2026 without advancing. But the pressure is real and continuous. Russian airstrikes there are frequent, with FAB-type guided glide bombs and MLRS rockets striking Ukrainian defensive positions and surrounding civilian infrastructure.

In this context, the 7th Ukrainian Airborne Assault Brigade and other units maintain their positions with artillery and drone support. The capacity to hold these lines depends in part on Western artillery and ammunition deliveries — which makes every foreign policy decision in Brussels, Washington, or Berlin directly relevant to a soldier in a trench at Pokrovsk.

The Interdependence Between the Front and the Western Political Rear

This tactical reality on the ground at Lyman, Sloviansk, Pokrovsk is inseparable from the political decisions made in Western capitals. Every delay in the delivery of artillery systems, every hesitation over military technology transfers, every political compromise in Washington under pressure from Russia, translates directly into additional pressure on soldiers holding a line with the means available.

This testimony is also a challenge. To the capitals that hesitate, to the allies that stall, to the decision-makers who measure their support according to their domestic agendas. The soldier in the ruins of Zakitne cannot wait for their political calculations. He has waited long enough.

Attacks That Make No Progress, a Resistance That Endures

The Lyman-Sloviansk direction in June 2026 tells a simple but vital story: Russian forces attack, spend, strike with 1.5-ton bombs and MLRS rockets — and make no progress. Ukrainian lines hold. Ukrainian counter-attacks retake ground east of Kupyansk. The Siverskyi Donets salient resists. A lone soldier eliminates two Russians in the ruins of Zakitne.

Holding Is a Form of Victory

In a war of attrition against a power that bets on mass and duration, holding is a form of victory. It is not final victory. It is not the reconquest of the Donbas or Crimea. But it is the foundation on which any subsequent victory must be built. And in June 2026, that foundation holds. That is the testimony I can offer from here, with the honesty of someone who was not there, but who reports what is documented.

I cannot testify to what I have not seen. But I can testify to what the documentation says: the lines hold. Lyman holds. Sloviansk holds. In this war, that is not nothing. It is not nothing at all.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a columnist and analyst. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

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