NYT: Small units of the Russian army began crossing the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region

Small groups of Russian soldiers advancing west from Donetsk region began crossing the border into Dnipropetrovsk region last weekend, The New York Times reported, citing three Ukrainian officers fighting in the area.

Journalists note that military analysts and Ukrainian soldiers view this offensive as "symbolic – aimed at undermining the morale of Ukrainians by breaking into a new region, and strategic – aimed at strengthening defenses in neighboring areas where it is already entrenched."

An officer with the call sign "Barbarossa" from the 72nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is currently repelling Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk, said that "Russia has accumulated a lot of forces in this area" and he expects them to advance deeper into the region.

Ukrainian officers stated that Russian troops had advanced a maximum of a few lines of trees in the direction of Dnipropetrovsk and had not yet captured a single settlement.

"The enemy uses small group tactics – two to four, sometimes six soldiers, moving from tree line to tree line or from building to building," said a Barbarossa officer.

Viktor, a Ukrainian army officer fighting in the area, believes that Russian forces may try to capture Novopavlivka, which is located on a strategically advantageous hill, before advancing north towards Mezhovaya, the main city in the area.

According to him, securing this stretch of land would allow Russia to "create a buffer zone approximately six miles deep to protect its flanks in neighboring Donetsk and prepare the ground for a new offensive on Pokrovsk."

• On April 30, 2025, Commander-in-Chief Syrsky stated that the enemy "is stubbornly trying to break through the defense of our troops in this direction" and reach the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
• On June 9, Viktor Tregubov, spokesman for the operational-strategic group of troops "Khortytsia", said that there are currently no Russians in the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region, nor on the administrative border with it.
• On June 10, Yuriy Butusov wrote that the enemy had 600 meters left to reach the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region, that is, with central Ukraine.
• On June 11, a spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces stated that Russian occupation troops were about 10 kilometers away from the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions in the Novopavlivske direction.