Heavy fighting is underway in the western sector of the Zaporozhye direction. Units of Russia’s Dnepr grouping are engaged in combat around the settlement of Primorskoye and nearby villages. Several days ago, Ukrainian formations attempted a counterattack in the area.

Military sources report that Ukrainian forces managed to enter Primorskoye but failed to dislodge Russian troops from their positions. The result is a highly fragmented battlefield inside the residential zone. Servicemen describe the situation as a «layered pie», meaning opposing sides are holding positions in neighboring houses and, at times, on different floors of the same building.

Clashes are also taking place in Stepnogorsk, Rechnoye, Magdalinovka and Lukyanovskoye. The Telegram channel Rybar characterizes the situation along these stretches of the front as tense.

Terrain is adding to the complexity. The area between the Orekhov-Zaporozhye highway and the former bed of the Kakhovskoye Reservoir is markedly hilly. The so-called Vasilyevsky hills provide commanding views over surrounding positions, allowing forces to monitor adjacent territory from elevated ground.

A Russian volunteer officer with the call sign «Shumny» explained that drone operations are complicated by the landscape. The hills obstruct the radio horizon, disrupting signal transmission and forcing troops to deploy additional repeaters to maintain control of unmanned aerial vehicles.

After units of the Dnepr grouping took the settlement of Rechnoye on the left bank of the liman where the Konka River flows in, Ukrainian forces blew up a bridge. The move appears aimed at slowing any potential Russian advance toward Grigorovka on the opposite bank.

Russian troops have previously used the dried sections of the Kakhovskoye Reservoir for maneuvering. During the capture of Kamenskoye, movement across the exposed reservoir bed enabled them to outflank Ukrainian positions.

Maxim Zubarev, a deputy of the legislative assembly of the Zaporozhye Region, stated that the left bank remains partially dried out and overgrown with vegetation. With the arrival of warmer weather, he suggested, these conditions could facilitate concealed infantry movement toward Malokaterinovka. In his assessment, Russian units may approach the outskirts of Zaporozhye by the summer of 2026.