A lot of people ask: why don't those civilians leave? Why are there still 1,600 civilians still in Lyman?

Well, some cant leave, but most, who have remained there for the 5 years of war, choose to stay there, either because they are waiting for the Russian Army as "liberators" or because they have lived in their house their whole lives and don't know anything else. By this stage of a battle, its usually a combination of both.

One quite striking example was, when earlier this year where the frontline looked something like what is shown on the map, some of the civilians in Shandryholove, which was under Russian control at the time, would simply walk down the road from the village, cross over the frontline, and enter Ukrainian-controlled Svyatohirsk to buy food and medicine from a shop there, and then simply return back across the frontline to their homes and basements in Shandryholove.

This is, of course, only able to occur due to the very small number of soldiers on each side actually concentrated along the frontline, and those who are there being hidden away to avoid being detected by drones.

Something similar occurred in the Vovchansk direction earlier this year, where civilians living in the villages of Lyman and Synelnykove would walk south to the village of Buhaivka to buy food and medicine from a store and then return across the frontline to their homes. In Kostyantynivka, some older civilians would drive to Druzhkivka (before the city was on the frontline) to collect their pensions, and then return to Kostyantynivka, where fighting was already taking place within the city at the time.

Ukrainian forces have re-established control over the village of Mykolaipillya, Kostyantynivka direction, Donetsk Oblast (Kramatorsk District).

Pre-war population: ~483.
Total land area: ~0.93 km².

The battle for Mykolaipillya lasted approximately 1 month.

Note: Mykolaipillya was never under full Russian control, but it reached the criteria of being at least 50% contested for a post to be made about it.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Rozkishne, Kostyantynivka direction, Donetsk Oblast (Kramatorsk District).

Pre-war population: ~152.
Total land area: ~0.21 km².

Ukrainian forces have recaptured the village of Novolyubivka, Lyman direction, Luhansk Oblast (Svatove District).

Pre-war population: ~99.
Total land area: ~0.78 km².

The second battle for Novolyubivka lasted approximately three weeks.

Russian forces have recaptured the village of Anyshchyne, Velykyi Burluk direction, Kharkiv Oblast (Kupyansk District).

Pre-war population: ~176.
Total land area: ~1.30 km².

The third battle for Anyshchyne lasted approximately three weeks.

Russian forces have recaptured the village of Vodyane, Velykyi Burluk direction, Kharkiv Oblast (Kupyansk District).

Pre-war population: ~124.
Total land area: ~2.30 km².

The second battle for Vodyane lasted approximately three weeks.

Luhansk Oblast holds

In case it wasn't already obvious, Trump's statement about an energy ceasefire is a lie.

Russian Geran-4/5 jet-drones have been attacking various energy facilities in Ukraine, including the TEC-5 Thermal Power Plant near Kharkiv, the 750 kV "Kyiv" Substation, and the 330 kV "Novokyivska" Substation, among others.

The situation for Russia in the Kramatorsk direction has deteriorated significantly in the last week. A lot of important areas on the tactical heights east of the city have been lost.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Saudi Arabia is suffering from a shortage of interceptor missiles and other air defence systems due to the recent heavy daily Ansarallah missile and drone attacks on its territory.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly struggling to defend its entire airspace with adequate air defence, and is redeploying air defence batteries around the country to protect key energy facilities, as well as its palaces. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is reportedly carefully moving between “heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers” alongside handpicked security guards.

Yesterday, two Ansarallah cruise missiles managed to breach Saudi airspace for over 800 km, with one being intercepted over King Khalid International Airport and the other impacting.

Situation on the Hlukhiv direction, Sumy Oblast:

Over the last month, low-intensity fighting has persisted in the Hlukhiv direction, with Russian and Ukrainian forces each attempting to improve their positions.

In the north, Ukrainian forces cleared the surroundings of Bachivsk and Tovstodubove from earlier Russian infiltrations, and re-established control over most of Bachivsk. Other assault groups took up positions in the forests along the international border to the north, and carried out limited raiding actions into Bryansk Oblast towards the village of Troebortnoe. They also managed to recapture a number of treeline positions southeast of Bachivsk. Russian assault operations continue in the usual areas, including east and southeast of Bachivsk, and towards Tovstodubove from the border crossing.

In the south, Russian forces continued to gradually advance north from Bila Bereza towards Ulanove, capturing a number of new treeline positions between the two settlements. Some forward assault groups are now operating in Ulanove, attempting to gain a foothold there and push the Ukrainians out of the remaining houses. Ukrainian forces are actively counterattacking, attempting to block the Russian infiltrators within the village.

+ ~21.20 km² in favour of Ukraine.
+ ~2.12 km² in favour of Russia.

interactive map: amkmapping.com

Situation on the Khotin & Yunakivka directions, Sumy Oblast:

Over the last three weeks, Ukrainian forces carried out a series of clearing operations and counterattacks, primarily aimed at clearing the grey-zone in and around the forests north of Sumy City from earlier Russian infiltrations.

In the west, Ukrainian forces managed to push the Russians out of a number of positions south of Kindrativka and begin advancing east of the village, recapturing a series of treeline positions in the direction of the reservoir. Other forces are carrying out limited infiltrations into the western houses of Andriivka, where the grey-zone has been expanded.

To the southeast, the Ukrainians cleared the forest plantations north of Pysarivka and pushed the Russians back from the outskirts of Ivolzhanske and Kyyanytsya, allowing for them to subsequently recapture the villages of Korchakivka and Mala Korchakivka. Simultaneously, other forces recaptured the northern approaches to Nova Sich and the large forest further north, before re-entering the forested gulley in the direction of Varachyne.

To the east, Ukrainian forces cleared the approaches to Marine from earlier Russian infiltrations, and used the various treelines there as staging grounds to re-enter the town of Yunakivka, gaining a foothold in the southern streets, before beginning a push northwards the town centre. Other assault groups advanced northwest, reaching the highway west of Yunakivka, where fighting is underway.

+ ~41.40 km² in favour of Ukraine.

interactive map: amkmapping.com

Situation on the Krasnopillya direction, Sumy Oblast:

Low intensity fighting has continued over the last few weeks, with both Russian and Ukrainian forces carrying out limited assault operations in various different areas.

In the north, Russian forces improved their positions in the village of Stepok, taking up new positions towards the western outskirts, and established control over the nearby forest plantations. The process of consolidation is still being carried out, although they are suffering heavy casualties due to heavy Ukrainian FPV drone and artillery strikes.

To the south, Ukrainian forces launched a series of counterattacks towards Pokrovka, recapturing positions in the western part of the village, and continued to advance through the forests to the south. They also managed to regain control over the forested areas north of Novodmytrivka, allowng them to establish control over the northern part of the village. Russian assault groups have resumed their attacks in the southern part of Novodmytrivka, attempting to dislodge Ukrainian soldiers from their remaining positions there.

+ ~5.55 km² in favour of Ukraine.
+ ~1.57 km² in favour of Russia.

interactive map: amkmapping.com

Situation on the Velykyi Burluk & Bilyi Kolodyaz directions, Kharkiv Oblast:

Over the last month, Russian forces continued their offensive operations in the salient in the northeastern corner of Kharkiv Oblast, aimed at bringing this vast area under their control and beginning a wider push towards Velykyi Burluk and Bilyi Kolodyaz. Most of their attacks in this sector are still in the phase of limited and sporadic infiltrations, with the actual advances being much smaller than what Russian sources claim. However, the zone of infiltration has been significantly expanded in several different areas.

In the western part of the salient, Ukrainian forces cleared the village of Volokhivske from earlier Russian infiltrations and recaptured the surrounding treeline positions. Russian forces have continued their attacks towards the village, and are expanded their assault operations further east. In this area, Russian forces continued infiltrating the villages of Zakharivka, Ivanivka, and Vasylivka, using the extensive built-up areas as cover for deep infiltrations all the way into Blahodatne. From this assault vector, individual Russian infiltrator groups pan outwards into to the adjacent tactical heights, occasionally entering the villages of Baksheivka, Buzove, and Virivka.

In the northern part of the salient, Russian forces established control over a number of positions in the southern part of Okhrimivka and began infiltrating Mala Vovcha from the west, while simultaneously attacking from the forests to the north. As a result of these attacks, they were able to capture most of the village and are now using it to accumulate for infiltrations eastwards into Khrypuny and Varvarivka, where they are attempting to consolidate in the former. Isolated infiltrations are also being recorded into the Mykolaivka area, as well as southeast down the gulley towards Riznykove, where there are very few Ukrainian positions remaining due to the risk of encirclement.

In the northeastern part of the salient, the Russians crossed the international border at a new points, establishing control over a number of treelines and forested areas, and entering the villages of Loshakove, Chernyakiv, and Khyzhnyakova, supporting the ongoing infiltrations from the direction of Mala Vovcha. For the last couple of days, they have also been attempting to cross the border further southeast, towards Kredyanka, where fighting is ongoing.

In the eastern part of the salient, following the the arrival of new reinforcements, Russian forces were able to reverse much of the earlier Ukrainian counterattacks, regaining control over the villages of Anyshchyne and Vodyane and re-entering Ivashchyne. From this area, they split off into two main infiltration vectors. In one direction, Russian soldiers are infiltrating north, attempting to capture the villages of Shyroke and Ozerne, before panning out towards the Rublene, Potykhonove, Komisarove, Hrachovka, and Kupyne. Currently, the main focus appears to be on capturing Shyroke and Komisarove, which would cut off Ukrainian formations further east in the Rublene area.

The other attack vector is to the south, where Rusisan forces are infiltrating west from Vilkhuvakhta into Dovzhanka and towards Slyneve and Hohyne, with some isolated infiltrators even manaing to enter the first houses of Prykolotne. Other soldiers are attacking southeast from Vilkhuvatka into the villages of Dovhenke and Zarubynka, which is being supported by separate assaults westwards into the forests to the south, putting Ukrainian formations entrenched east of Vilkhuvatka at risk of encirclement.

+ ~36.77 km² in favour of Russia.
+ ~5.17 km² in favour of Ukraine.

interactive map: amkmapping.com

The Russian Ministry of Defence claims that another dry cargo ship was struck by a Russian Geran-4 jet-drone in the western Black Sea, which they allege was transporting military cargo to Odesa Port.