Russian forces have taken control of three more settlements in the Zaporozhye and Sumy regions and the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

In the Zaporozhye Region, units of Russia’s Vostok Group of Forces captured Dolinka. Ukrainian losses in this sector exceeded 315 servicemen, while three armored combat vehicles and five other vehicles were also destroyed.

Dolinka is located in the Gulyaypole district and had a pre-conflict population of about 500 people. The village lies roughly one kilometer north of Kopani, which the Russian Defense Ministry said was taken on July 1.

War correspondent Alexander Kots pointed to Dolinka’s importance for further Russian advances. The village links up with the previously captured settlements of Rovnoye and Kopani, making the Russian bridgehead northeast of Orekhov more contiguous.

From this area, Russian units can move west toward Chervony Yar, situated near the T0408 highway between Novonikolayevka and Orekhov. Orekhov remains a key city in the Ukrainian defensive system in the Zaporozhye Region.

Russian troops also advanced in the Sumy Region, where units of the Sever Group of Forces captured Pershe Travnya, which Ukrainian authorities renamed Novokonstantinovka in 2024. Ukrainian losses there reached up to 235 servicemen and 11 vehicles.

The village is part of the Sumy district and sits directly along the border with the Glushkovo district of Russia’s Kursk Region. Before the fighting, its population stood at around 20 people. Pershe Travnya is about 3.5 kilometers from the Russian village of Yelizavetovka.

Kondratovka lies roughly three kilometers to the southeast. Russia’s Sever Group of Forces took control of that settlement in early June 2025.

Russian units continue to expand a security zone along the border in this sector. It now stretches for about 25 kilometers along the front, from Yunakovka to Pershe Travnya, and reaches roughly 11 kilometers in depth toward Ivolzhanskoye. From this area, artillery and drones can already strike targets in the city of Sumy.

In the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russia’s Tsentr Group of Forces captured Kucherov Yar. Ukrainian forces lost up to 330 servicemen, six armored combat vehicles, eight other vehicles and two artillery pieces.

Kucherov Yar is located in the Pokrovsk district on the Gruzskaya River. Its pre-conflict population was about 240 people. Novy Donbass, which the Russian Defense Ministry said was captured on June 16, lies approximately eight kilometers to the southwest.

The advance around Kucherov Yar allows the Tsentr Group of Forces to increase pressure on Dobropolye, the last major settlement in western DPR still under Kiev’s control. Russian units can move north from the village toward the T0514 highway. Cutting that route could disrupt communications between Kramatorsk and Dobropolye.