2026 Ukrainian counteroffensive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(2 months, 2 weeks and 5 days)
- Eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
- Northeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast
| 2026 Ukrainian counteroffensive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the southern front of the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ukraine |
 Russia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
In February 2026, Ukraine launched a local counteroffensive on the southern front of the Russo-Ukrainian war with the goal of expelling Russian forces from the Dnipropetrovsk region and to disrupt Russia's plans for a 2026 spring offensive.[7][8][9]
The offensive marked the first time since the 2024 Kursk offensive that Ukrainian forces made a monthly net gain of territory over Russia and the largest Ukrainian offensive inside the country since the 2023 counteroffensive.[10][11]
In the second half of 2025, the Russian army made advances towards the city of Huliaipole. During this operation, Russian forces took control of several villages located within the Dnipropetrovsk region.[12][13][14] Ukraine had mostly been conducting defensive operations throughout 2024 and 2025. However, the Ukrainian command stressed that victory on the battlefield cannot be achieved through defence alone. Therefore, the Ukrainian army was planning to launch an offensive in 2026.[15][16]
In early February 2026, Russian war bloggers and channels began publishing reports of a Ukrainian offensive in the south.[17] The Ukrainian army initially denied the Russian reports about the start of a counteroffensive.[18][19]
Counteroffensive
The Ukrainian Air Assault Forces launched an offensive from their positions along the Vovcha river in eastern Dnipropetrovsk towards the south.[20][21] This sector of the frontline is referred to by the Ukrainian army as the “Oleksandrivka front”, named after the settlement of Oleksandrivka located south of Pokrovske.[22] Ukrainian forces managed to advance into the village of Vidradne.[5] Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported on 15 February that Ukrainian troops pushed Russian forces out of Oleksiivka and Vyshneve and penetrated Russian defenses by the Yanchur river reaching up to Zlahoda.[23][24] After one week of fighting, Ukraine recorded its biggest territorial gains since June 2023.[25][26]
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in an interview with AFP that the Ukrainian army recaptured 300 square kilometers on the southern front, without specifying the exact area of advances.[27][28][29] The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed on 21 February that Ukrainian forces took control of Hai and Novooleksandrivka on a prior date. Additional geolocated footage showed Ukrainian troops advancing into the village of Ternove.[30] Two days later, the ISW assessed Ukrainian control over the villages of Ostapivske, Nechaivka and Radisne due to a lack of visual evidence of Russian presence.[31] Ukraine's Air Assault Forces reported that its units seized eight settlements on the Oleksandrivka direction.[32] Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi corroborrated this report and added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine regained control over 400 square kilometers in the south.[33][34] Geolocated footage showed Ukrainian units advancing south of Verbove by 25 February.[35] The following day, the ISW assessed that Ukrainian forces captured Pryvillia and Zlahoda (formerly Pershotravneve). The seizure of these settlements also indicates that Ukraine likely has control over Danylivka and Yehorivka along the Yanchur river.[36][37] Further to the east, fighting took place near the villages of Ternove and Berezove.[38]
At the end of the month of February, Ukraine captured more territory than it lost to Russia.[39][40] This marked the first month since the Summer 2023 that Ukrainian forces made a net gain of territory compared to Russia (excluding the 2024 Kursk offensive).[41] In early March, Ukrainian commander Syrskyi confirmed that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was ongoing and led by Ukraine's Air Assault Forces under the command of brigadier general Oleh Apostol.[42][43] On 10 March, Ukrainian major general Oleksandr Komarenko told RBC-Ukraine that almost the entire territory of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has been recaptured by the Ukrainian military.[44] He added that fighting is ongoing in three settlements, while two others still need to be cleared.[45][46] That same day, the ISW reported that Ukrainian forces recently took control of Kalynivske and Stepove.[47] The following day, fighting reached the village of Novohryhorivka, indicating that Ukrainian troops crossed the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.[48][49]
A second Ukrainian crossing into the Zaporizhzhia region occurred near the Yanchur river where Ukrainian units seized the settlement of Rybne. On the other hand, Russian forces maintained control over Berezove, while the Ukrainian army advanced into the southeastern parts of Novomykolaivka.[50] By 19 March, the fighting continued for Novohryhorivka and extended to the outskirts of nearby Novoivanivka.[51][52] One week later, Ukraine’s 95th Air Assault Brigade announced the capture of Berezove.[53][54] Ukrainian commander Syrskyi reported on 27 March that Ukraine retook control of 470 square kilometers of territory and cleared 12 settlements of Russian forces.[55][56] War analyst Emil Kastehelmi expressed caution in response to this announcement, noting that the roughly 400 square kilometers captured had been mentioned several times over the past few weeks. He observed that the initial Ukrainian momentum is gone compared to the progress made in February and early March.[57]
The Russian army managed to halt further Ukrainian advances in the area and recaptured the settlements of Berezove and Ternove by early April.[58][59] Commander of Ukraine’s 1st Assault Regiment, Dmytro Filatov, told Ukrainska Pravda that the counteroffensive prioritised advances in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast over the recapture of the city of Huliaipole.[60]