The Russian Invasion of Ukraine (Part 3)

Today, a statement appeared on the pages of the Russian Ministry of Defense claiming the alleged capture of the village of Rozkishne, located at the northwestern edge of Dovha Balka, 5 km west of Kostiantynivka. Subsequently, a video of its flagging was published on one of the Russian Telegram channels. Assessing this subjectively, the material did not convince me that we are dealing with a permanent occupation of the locality. It looks more like an action by a sabotage and reconnaissance group (SRG), and that’s how I’m marking it on my map. The village is tactically important in the context of the Ukrainian blocking position established in the Dovha Balka – Stepaniwka area, defended by the 1st Battalion of the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade and the 2nd Mechanized Battalion of the 157th Mechanized Brigade. Rozkishne is located above Dovha Balka, so the appearance of Russian soldiers there—likely from the 255th Regiment of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division—will certainly negatively affect the stability of the Ukrainian units’ defense and hinder the further maintenance of this blocking position.

A certain mystery remains as to how the Russian soldiers infiltrated Rozkishne. Some map authors draw that they reached it through Dovha Balka, while the Russians in the video presented a version according to which they arrived at the village from the area northeast of Rusyn Yar. Though this is just my speculation, I lean toward the Russian version. Generally, I believe that the front line in the area north of Rusyn Yar runs differently than shown on the DeepState map. In my opinion, as a result of the Russian offensive operation in October 2025, their units occupied territories north of Balka Vidnoho. Since then, the front in that place has been static.

Regardless of the route by which the Russian SRG got there, we are again dealing with a deep infiltration of about 7–10 km. This is another such situation. Two weeks ago, we had a similar case in the Dobropillia area near Pokrovsk. There, the Russian SRG advanced 10 to 15 km. At the same time, articles appear in Ukrainian and Western media about “death zones” created by drones, said to span dozens of kilometers. According to a text in “The Atlantic,” the death zone is currently estimated at 30 to 60 km. Today, however, the Ukrainian press agency Unian outdid everyone. Quoting an anonymous Ukrainian FPV drone operator, it wrote that the death zone now extends over more than 120 km on both sides of the contact line. As someone wittily noted on Twitter/X: “Death zones are everywhere, but sometimes you can just walk right through.”

mackie · 12 June 2026 07:45

Magnus · 12 June 2026 22:48

https://x.com/Archer83Able/status/2065406035532111878

Magnus · 12 June 2026 22:49

https://x.com/Thorkill65/status/2065403941311951208

Magnus · 12 June 2026 22:50

https://x.com/Archer83Able/status/2065400033634132257
https://x.com/prestonstew_/status/2065407903872246097
https://x.com/UAControlMap/status/2065440122305208702

Magnus · 12 June 2026 22:50

https://x.com/Archer83Able/status/2065430231482089825
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/2065514199770436087

Magnus · 12 June 2026 22:51

A bigger attack today
https://x.com/moklasen/status/2065502092760854807