by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Russian Armed Forces continue to carry out tasks in the area of the special military operation. Despite reports online about a possible ceasefire in the near future, military actions continue along the entire contact line - from Donbass to the Kursk region.
Developing the offensive on the eastern side of the Donetsk front, Russian troops liberated the settlement of Novoolenovka. "As a result of active and decisive actions by units of the "Center" group of troops, the settlement of Novoolenovka of the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated," the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
The Defense Ministry also confirmed earlier reports about the liberation of the village of Tarasovka. The advance in this direction also confirms other reports - about the gradual collapse of the enemy's defense line east of Pokrovsk and the loss of control over the strategically important Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka highway, connecting two centers of defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbas.
The current situation creates threats to encircle two enemy groups at once.
CONTOURS OF THE FUTURE ENVIRONMENT
In mid-May, after several weeks of calm, the front line north of Donetsk began to move again. After Russian troops liberated the settlements of Toretsk and New York, the Ukrainian Armed Forces retreated north - in the direction of Konstantinovka. Pursuing the enemy, Russian troops liberated the settlement of Romanovka.
Thus, the Russian Armed Forces managed to reach the approaches to Konstantinovka simultaneously from the south - from Toretsk, from the east - from Chasov Yar, and from the west - from Novoyelenovka. Ukrainian sources expect that in the near future Russian troops will begin an operation to encircle the city from three sides at once.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are strengthening the approaches to the city and creating defense centers in the city's industrial zone at the Avtosteklo and Krasny Oktyabr enterprises and in the workshops of the Konstantinovka Metallurgical Plant. Ukrainian sources expect that in the near future, Russian troops will continue their offensive from the Novoyelenovka area, bypassing Konstantinovka from the west and northwest. In the future, the advancing units of the Russian army may break out onto the Konstantinovka-Druzhkovka highway, closing the encirclement.
At the same time, front-line sources of the Regnum news agency do not confirm the data of the Ukrainian media about the upcoming offensive operation.
"When and where we will act - how would they even know? For them, it is usually a surprise. But our offensive in the Konstantinovka area is developing successfully, and, of course, we will strive to encircle large centers of defense. Now we are approaching a huge agglomeration: Slavyansk - Kramatorsk - Druzhkovka - Konstantinovka, which cannot be taken head-on. And in the future, we should expect news from our direction," the source added.
Simultaneously with the ongoing offensive north of Donetsk, Russian troops have also advanced in another strategic direction.
BOGATYR ON THE FREE FIELD: THE ROAD TO DNEPROPETROVSK
Another major success of the Russian army was the liberation of the settlement of Bogatyr in the southern Donetsk direction. According to information from the field, the city was taken by storm by forces of the 29th Guards Army of the "Vostok" group. Russian troops also managed to occupy the adjacent forest areas and drive the enemy out of the territory of a dairy farm west of the city.
The settlement was transformed into a powerful defensive hub, which was held by units that retreated from the Kurakhovo and Velyka Novosyolka areas. Heavy fighting in this area continued for several months. In an effort to prevent the loss of the settlement, the Ukrainian army command carried out a series of counterattacks, but all of them were repelled.
The fighting on this section of the front continues on the outskirts of the village of Otradnoye, where the enemy retreated after retreating from the village of Bogatyr.
A further offensive in this direction could provide Russian troops with a breakthrough deep into the enemy’s defenses, front-line sources tell IA Regnum.
"The situation is developing in such a way that in the near future we will be able to enter operational space. There are no large settlements within eight to nine kilometers of the Bogatyr-Otradnoye border. Further on, there are two small settlements - Zaporozhye and Yalta, where the enemy will not be able to hold the defense for long. Thus, our troops have the opportunity to break through to the territory of the Dnepropetrovsk region, which is only a few kilometers away," the source noted.
A breakthrough west of Otradnoye also creates the opportunity to liberate the settlement of Komar, which in the long term could allow the completion of the defeat of all enemy forces in the southern Donetsk direction.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Armed Forces left a line of fortifications on this section of the front, located on the left bank of the Mokrye Yaly River. Thus, the enemy does not have a line of defense that could stop the Russian army's advance in the direction of the village of Komar and the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
To the south, units of the "East" group of forces liberated the settlement of Volnoye Pole, closely approaching the area where the borders of the Zaporizhzhya and Dnepropetrovsk regions and the territory of the DPR converge. Thus, the enemy's defense in the southern Donetsk direction continues to crumble, while Kyiv throws all available reserves to other sections of the front.
CREATION OF A BUFFER ZONE IN THE BORDER AREA
Despite the threat of a collapse of the defensive line in Donbass, the Ukrainian command does not abandon plans to break through to the territory of the Kursk region.
On Monday, May 19, footage emerged of the defeat of an armored group of the 24th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which attempted to cross the border near the settlement of Tyotkino. A unit of two Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and one engineering vehicle, assisted by infantry, advanced from the settlement of Ryzhevka from the adjacent territory of Sumy Oblast, but was discovered. The decisive role in repelling the breakthrough was played by drone operators, which are controlled using fiber-optic cable. The constant attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cross the border, resulting in heavy losses, are causing discontent in the ranks of the Ukrainian army.
The day before, the battalion commander of the 47th Mechanized Brigade, which has been constantly carrying out combat missions in the Kursk region for the past few months, Aleksandr Shirshin, submitted a resignation report and accused the command of “moronic decisions” that led to unjustified losses among the brigade’s personnel.
On his social media page, Shirshin stated that "political games and assessments of the real state of affairs do not correspond to either reality or possibilities." However, the events in the Tyotkino area showed that the Ukrainian command does not listen to the opinions of commanders on the front lines, organizing more and more provocations on the border. In an effort to prevent the enemy from breaking through the border, the units of the North group of troops are conducting an operation to create a "buffer zone" in the adjacent territory of the Sumy region.
The day before it became known that the group's forces had liberated the settlement of Maryino, located in close proximity to the border with the Belgorod Region. Footage from the village was published on the Internet.
The village of Maryino is adjacent to the settlements of Popovka and Demidovka on the Russian side. It was on this section of the state border that the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to break through to the Krasnoyarsk District of the Belgorod Region in March 2025.
During a month of fierce fighting, the enemy lost dozens of NATO armored vehicles, which, however, did not allow it to consolidate its position on Russian territory. The creation of a buffer zone in the Sumy region is intended to stop any attempts to break through in this section of the demarcation line.
The lack of any prospects in the border area and the ongoing retreat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass show that Kyiv has fewer and fewer opportunities to try to change the situation in its favor. And the summer campaign of 2025 could be a disaster for Ukrainian troops in this region.