Decimus reports in Daily Kos:
In December, 2025, it looked like the Russians were going to swallow Huliaipole, bypass the Ukrainian fortifications to the West and race the 60 miles from Huliaipole to Zaporizhia city. Fast forward to August 11th, 2026 and Russian forces have been halted on the Huliaipole front, with Ukrainian officers reporting enemy attempts to launch further offensive operations have been reduced to zero this month. Ukraine surged veteran units to stabilize the front, then began counterattacks which have regained territory. The casualty ratio on this section of the front is one Ukrainian soldier to 26 Russians.Remember when there was a lot of gnashing of teeth, hand waving and unbridled accusatory imprecations hurled at the Ukrainian Army high command for the “disaster at Huliaipole” in Zaporizhia?
The Russians had suddenly managed to cross the Haichur river, flanked and pushed in the under-resourced elements of the 102nd and 106th Ukrainian National Territorial Guard that were holding the defenses at that location. It looked for all the world that the Russians were going to circle behind Ukraine’s prepared defenses and make a bee line across the 60 miles of open Zaporizhian steppe to lay siege to the regional capital of Zaporizhia city, home to some 700,000 people.
The media was abuzz with stories of how Russian forces captured a Ukrainian battalion command post in central Huliaipole on Christmas Day, December 25th 2025, seizing laptops still running, unlocked smartphones, and official seals after the Ukrainian troops retreated under fire. It was feverishly claimed as an “intelligence disaster” and a propaganda bonanza for the Russians.
Less than two months later though, Ukraine completely turned the situation around … which led me to post the following diary:
ADAPTIVE INDOMITABLE UKRAINE Makes Fastest Battlefield Gain in 2.5 Years
While Ukraine was busy holding them off at Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad, the Russians loaded up the double-barrel and aimed it at Huliaipole, one of the few sections of the entire battle trace where the Ukrainians were relatively light on fortifications. At some point this past Summer, Russia even pulled some units from Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad to pour into the Huliaipole attack. The news of one thunderstruck Ukrainian Territorial Guard unit retreating in disorder leaving behind still logged in command communication equipment, etc., made for banner head lines:
Russians capture Ukrainian battalion command post in Huliaipole with laptops still running
Ukraine was definitely on its back foot with the Russians pressing hard, having finally forced several crossings on both the Haichur and Huliaipole rivers which the Ukrainians had counted on as defensive strong points. In December 2025, it looked for all the world like the Russians were going to swallow Huliaipole whole, bypass the Ukrainian fortifications to the West and race the rest of the 60 miles from Huliaipole and lay waste to Zaporizhia city, the capital of Zaporizhia oblast and home to an estimated 713,000. The Ukrainians quickly performed several of their now-well-practiced tactical retrogrades(some say “retreat”) from several villages onto their more hardened defensive lines, hunkered down and waited for reinforcements. Live today, fight another day:
Ukraine retreats from five towns in Zaporizhzhia as Russia pounds positions with 400 artillery strikes daily (MAP)
And as always the alarm bells started ringing, hair pulling and gnashing of teeth, and accusations of incompetence flew at the high Ukrainian command. General Syrskyi just kept calm and commanded his troops. First he sent in the redoubtable young commander Denys “Redis” Prokopenko and his 1st Azov Corps … the guys who erased the Russian salient in Dobropiliya(Donetsk Oblast) to the other Dobropiliya near Huliaipole in Zaporizhia to lock down that sector … in order to prevent the Russians from moving northeasterly to threaten the E-50 highway which is one of the major Ukrainian logistical lines between Zaporizhia oblast, Dnipro oblast and Pokrovsk. Check!!. As always, 1st Azov locked it down.
Then more veteran Ukrainian units surged into the Huliaipole area to join the embattled 102nd and 106th Territorial National Guards … Colonel Valentyn Manko and his 225th Separate Assault, Colonel Bohdan Shevchuk and his 141st Mechanized Brigade, Maj. Vladyslav Tyupa and his 48th Assault Battalion as well as other detached units.
Despite heavy Russian attacks and sustained pressure, Ukrainian units have not only managed to stabilize the front but they have now turned the tables on the Russians and are pushing the Russians back in the area. General Syrskyi himself, in a relatively understated announcement indicated that the Ukrainians are carrying out counter-attack operations in the area.
So how did Ukraine achieve this turnaround?:
Ukraine prioritised defence over retaking Huliaipole to improve position in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, commander says
Assault troops say the success of the latest offensive in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was achieved because Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi agreed not to expend manpower on retaking Huliaipole. Instead, the Armed Forces of Ukraine switched to a defensive posture there to improve their tactical position.
Fast forward to August 11th, 2026 and the Russians, having been pushed back have now been stopped … cold. Russian forces have been halted on the Huliaipole front, with Ukrainian military officers reporting that enemy attempts to launch further offensive operations have been reduced to zero as of August 2026. Although Russia captured significant portions of the city in late December 2025 and early 2026, Ukrainian defenses have stabilized the sector, preventing any further westward advancement toward Zaporizhia city.
The current frontline in and around Huliaipole is characterized by intense but static fighting, with Russian forces effectively “bottled up” after their initial breakthrough. Ukrainian commanders attribute the successful halt of the Russian advance to effective counter-offensives and the stabilization of defensive lines, despite earlier challenges related to personnel shortages and command delays. Not only that but the Ukrainians have now set up an unyielding “meat grinder” in the Huliaipole sector which is chewing up attempted Russian assaults to the tune of 26 lost Russians to 1 Ukrainian:
One Ukrainian soldier to 26 Russian occupiers: Military officer reports losses on Huliaipole front
Dmytro “Perun” Filatov, the Ukrainian commander who looks like he just stepped out of the 1890s painting titled “The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks” and now commands 1st Separate Assault Regiment named after the immortal Dmytro ” Da Vinci” Kotsyubailo describes the current situation as:
“At present, this section of the front is under control. The enemy’s attempts to conduct further offensive operations have been reduced to zero. The enemy does not stop attempting daily assaults, but has had no success. We have built an effective system of countermeasures. We are actively advancing despite the fact that the enemy is trying to attack intensively in this area.
Filatov also said that the casualty ratio on this section of the front is one Ukrainian soldier to 26 Russian occupiers.
“Our ratio has reached 1 (Ukrainian soldier) to 26 (Russian occupiers). In general, during combat operations, the average ratio of losses between attacking and defending units is 1 defender to 3 attackers or 1 defender to 4 attackers. In our case, we are finding methods that result in significantly higher Russian losses.
Filatov is concerned about the coming Russian national mobilization. But he says he and the Ukrainians will find ways to counter it. They will be ready to counter it … asymmetrically. There’s that word again:
“The main challenges we expect from the enemy are increased mobilization after the completion of the electoral process in Russia. It is likely to be carried out covertly in Russia. However, we do not rule out broader mobilization. We will not be able to compensate for this through increased mobilization ourselves, since the enemy has greater manpower resources. Therefore, we are trying to find methods of countering this and conducting the war through asymmetric actions,” he emphasized.
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