Russia finds gaps in Ukraine’s front with advance into Huliaipole

Russian forces slipped into the town of Huliaipole in late December, exploiting gaps along Ukraine’s roughly 700-mile front, the New York Times reports. The assault came under cover of fog, with troops moving along a river and drawn by the hum of a generator into a Ukrainian command post, where a firefight forced defenders to retreat and left laptops and battlefield maps behind, Captain Dmytro Filatov said.

"It was a catastrophe," he said, and his First Separate Assault Regiment was rushed in to reinforce the town. The episode highlights a broader problem for Kyiv: after years of grinding war it lacks the forces to defend every sector equally. For much of the past year Ukraine concentrated its forces on holding cities in Donetsk, leaving a broad swath to the west, including parts of Zaporizhzhia, thinly defended.

The Finland-based Black Bird Group’s Pasi Paroinen said Russian forces seized nearly 170 square miles in Zaporizhzhia and neighboring Dnipropetrovsk in November and December, and battlefield maps show Russia now controls at least half of Huliaipole. Residents and local defenders described scarce firepower and strained rotations.

Svitlana Lystopad, who evacuated in mid-November, said the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade had "one artillery gun" and little else. Rotations that began every three days stretched to weeks, she said.

huliaipole advance, zaporizhzhia region frontline, dnipropetrovsk region gains, russian forces advance, gaps along front, 700-mile front, captain dmytro filatov, first separate assault regiment, black bird group analysis, pasi paroinen assessment, 102nd territorial defense brigade, kamikaze drone attacks, laptops left behind