Russia says it has "taken" Kamianske, from where it can attack Zaporizhzhia. The Ukrainian Armed Forces explained how it really is

Russian small assault groups periodically enter the village of Kamianske, Vasylkiv district, Zaporizhzhia region, but are destroyed by Ukrainian artillery and drones. This was stated by Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, commenting on the Russian Defense Ministry's report on the alleged capture of the village.

According to Voloshyn, the Russians destroyed "virtually everything in Kamianske," and so there are no places to hold there now – neither for Russian nor Ukrainian forces. That is why the Ukrainian Armed Forces had to retreat to the flanks, toward the village.

"Russians cannot enter this village and hold on. There is not a single surviving house, not a single surviving wall, not a single fortification, not a single shelter," emphasized the Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesman .

He noted that when Russians enter a village, Ukrainian troops destroy them.

"So to say that they have captured something is very hasty at the moment. Sometimes they come in small groups of infantry, one or two men infiltrate. However, they cannot stay in this village, hold any position, build anything, because we are also hitting them with artillery and drones," Voloshyn explained .

He confirmed that if Kamianske is occupied and if long-range artillery and multiple launch rocket systems are deployed on this bridgehead, they can "reach" the regional center – there is a threat to the southern and eastern outskirts of Zaporizhzhia .

But to do this, the Russians must not only gain a foothold in Kamianske, but also move further, as artillery is not deployed to the front line.

Kamianske is an important foothold because there is a risk of artillery strikes on Stepnohirsk from there, and it is also a good place to keep under fire control the logistics routes to Orikhiv.

Voloshyn emphasized that Ukrainian forces held the bridgehead as long as possible, but now there is simply no place to hold it. Ukrainian Armed Forces conduct maneuver defense.

"For example, we withdrew, they went in, we destroyed them, they cannot gain a foothold there. This is a maneuver defense, a maneuver with fire, a maneuver with a unit," he explained .

The analytical community DeepState has not yet recorded the full occupation of Kamianske either – the settlement is marked as partially occupied, and partially in a "gray zone" .

It is about 28 km from the village to the southern and eastern outskirts of Zaporizhzhia.

• At the end of June, Russia struck Zaporizhzhia with MLRS – for the first time in at least a year and a half .
• As of early July, Russia had engaged a total of 700,000 troops in combat operations against Ukraine . Compared to May, the group increased by 60,000 people, and by November 2024 – by 120,000.