Russia’s war on Ukraine. 26.03.26
Operational situation
On the Northern Slobozhansky Direction, Russian forces attacked near Kindrativka and Yunakivka.
On the Southern Slobozhansky Direction, the 69th Motorized Rifle Division of the 6th Combined Arms Army fights for Pishchane. Russian forces attacked near Vovchansk, Pishchanske, Vovchanski Khutory, Starytsya, Vilcha, Hrafske, and Nesterne, in the direction of Okhrymivka, Verkhnya Pysarivka, and Zybyne.
On the Kupyansk Direction, Russian forces attempted to advance east of Hlushkivka, attacked near Petropavlivka, Kurylivka, Podoly, and Pishchane, in the direction of Kivsharivka, Novoosynove, and Novoplatonivka, near Kopanky, Tverdokhlibove, and Serednie.
On the Sloviansk Direction, enemy infantry groups infiltrated from Zarichne into Lyman and penetrated to the southeastern outskirts of the city. Russian forces fought for Nykyforivka and Lypivka, attempted to advance south of Kalenyky and southwest of Riznykivka, attacked near Drobysheve, Yarova, Ozerne, Yampil, Zakitne, and Platonivka, in the direction of Rai-Oleksandrivka, near Pazeno and Fedorivka Druha.
On the Kostyantynivka Direction, Ukrainian Defense Forces advanced southeast of Kostyantynivka, north of Ivanopillya, and northwest of Stupochky.
Russian forces attempted to advance northwest of Holubivka, struck the northeastern part of Kostyantynivka, attacked near Kostyantynivka, Virolyubivka, Minkivka, Malynivka, Oleksandro-Shultyne, Pleshchiivka, Ivanopillya, Berestok, Illinivka, Stepanivka, Rusyn Yar, Novopavlivka, and Sofiivka.
On the Pokrovsk Direction, Russian forces attacked near Toretske, Novyi Donbas, Nove Shakhove, Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk, and Hryshyne, in the direction of Novooleksandrivka and Shevchenkove, near Rodynske, Bilytske, Myrnohrad, Udachne, Molodetske, Kotlyne, and Novopidhorodnie.
On the Oleksandrivka Direction, Russian forces attacked near Novomykolayivka, Horikhove, Filiya, Oleksandrohrad, Krasnohirske, Zlahoda, and Ternove, in the direction of Pryvillya.
Ukrainian Defense Forces struck enemy communications hubs near Velyka Novosilka and Hirnyk and are striking road vehicles on highways around Donetsk.
On the Huliaypole Direction, Russian forces advanced in the south of Myrne, attacked near Huliaypole and Olenokostyantynivka, in the direction of Verkhnya Tersa and Vozdvyzhivka, near Dobropillya, Varvarivka, Myrne, and Zalizne, in the direction of Huliaypilske and Staroukrainka.
Ukrainian Defense Forces counterattacked near Myrne, Novoselivka, and Hirke.
On the Orikhiv Direction, Russian forces attacked near Stepnohirsk, Prymorske, Lukyanivske, and Novoboykivske, in the direction of Novoyakovlivka and Pavlivka.
Ukrainian Defense Forces struck a communications hub near Fedorivka.
Supporting operation:
Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the Vyborg shipyard and the “Purga” Project 23550 patrol icebreaker being built for the Russian FSB Border Service.
Overall assessment of changes in the operational situation:
Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to expand the kill zone in the north of Kharkiv Oblast, forcing the enemy to move on foot 2 to 10 km to the line of departure for attacks. In the Vovchansk area, Russian forces attempt to adopt Ukrainian tactics, using more unmanned ground vehicles in response to the expanding kill zone. The enemy is withdrawing combat equipment further to the rear from the front line, including into Belgorod Oblast.
On the Sloviansk Direction, Russian forces are preparing for their spring–summer campaign by striking Ukrainian logistics with UAVs and guided aerial bombs and have struck crossings and dams along the Siverskyi Donets river, constraining Ukrainian Defense Forces maneuver near Lyman. The occupiers study Ukrainian defenses in preparation for an offensive in the Kryva Luka and Zakitne area when warm weather arrives.
Russian military command has deployed reserves on the Pokrovsk Direction and increased the size of assault groups to 15–20 personnel, but their training is poor. The enemy is increasing the use of vehicles, motorcycles, and all-terrain vehicles.
Change in the line of contact (LoC), directions of attacks and counterattacks:
There were 158 combat engagements on various fronts.
On the Northern Slobozhansky and Kursk Directions, 3 combat engagements were recorded.
On the Southern Slobozhansky Direction, the enemy made three attempts to breach defensive lines toward Starytsya, Zybyne, and Okhrymivka.
On the Kupyansk direction, the enemy attacked 4 times toward Nova Kruhlyakivka, Kurylivka, and Platonivka.
On the Sloviansk Direction, 14 enemy attempts to penetrate Ukrainian defense toward Drobysheve, Lyman, and Dibrova, in the area of Kopanky, and to advance in the areas of Zakitne, Riznykivka, and Platonivka and toward Rai-Oleksandrivka were stopped.
On the Kostyantynivka Direction, the enemy carried out 17 attacks in the areas of Chasiv Yar, Kostyantynivka, Pleshchiivka, and Novopavlivka, and toward Illinivka and Toretske.
On the Pokrovsk Direction, 44 enemy assault actions were stopped in the areas of Bilytske, Rodynske, Myrnohrad, Pokrovsk, Kotlyne, Udachne, Novomykolayivka, Novopidhorodnie, Molodetske, Horikhove, Svitle, and Novoserhiyivka, and toward Novyi Donbas, Novooleksandrivka, Hryshyne, and Shevchenko.
On the Oleksandrivka Direction, the enemy attacked three times in the areas of Ternove, Oleksandrohrad, and Krasnohirske.
On the Huliaypole Direction, 17 enemy attacks took place in the areas of Huliaypole, Varvarivka, and Olenokostyantynivka, and toward Zaliznychne and Myrne.
On the Orikhiv Direction, the enemy attacked in the area of Prymorske.
On the Prydniprovske Direction, the enemy carried out two assault actions — toward the Antonivskyi Bridge and toward Bilohrudyi island.
Changes in the enemy disposition:
The 56th Air Assault Regiment of the 7th Air Assault Division strikes near Bachivsk.
The 204th Separate SOF Regiment, the 45th Separate SOF Brigade of the Airborne Forces, and the “Rubezh” Reconnaissance and Assault Brigade (Russian Volunteer Corps) strike near Vovchansk.
The 47th Tank Division of the 1st Tank Army operates near Pishchane; the 3rd Motorized Rifle Division of the 20th Combined Arms Army attacks from the Katerynivka–Hrekivka line.
The 144th Motorized Rifle Division of the 20th Combined Arms Army and the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division of the 1st Tank Army attack in the directions of Shandryholove–Drobysheve and Novoselivka–Yarova; the 2nd Artillery Brigade of the 3rd Combined Arms Army strikes on the Sloviansk Direction.
Units of the “Rubikon” Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies strike in Kostyantynivka and Oleksiyevo-Druzhkivka; the 1194th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 4th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 3rd Combined Arms Army, the 1307th, 1008th, and 1442nd Motorized Rifle Regiments of the 6th Motorized Rifle Division, the 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 3rd Army Corps, and an FSB Presidential Regiment counter-terrorism detachment strike in Kostyantynivka; the 57th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division of the 8th Combined Arms Army operates near Novotoretske and Sofiivka.
The 263rd Separate Reconnaissance Battalion of the 55th Marine Infantry Division of the Pacific Fleet operates in the Dobropillya area.
The 400th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment of the 90th Tank Division of the 41st Combined Arms Army operates in the Novopavlivka area; the 14th Separate SOF Brigade strikes near Kolomiychykha, Dolynka, and Vozdvyzhivka.
The 218th Tank Regiment of the 127th Motorized Rifle Division of the 5th Combined Arms Army strikes near Dolynka.
Possible operation situation developments:
Two offensive operations should be expected starting from the end of April 2026 — the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk and the Orikhiv-Zaporizhzhia operations. The disruption of the enemy’s summer offensive will lead to a prolonged loss of offensive capabilities, depletion of resources, and will provide a real chance to end the war. The Lyman, Sloviansk, and Kostyantynivka Directions are acquiring strategic significance, as the enemy’s military-political leadership is urgently requiring several convincing operational victories that can be presented as victory in the entire war.
The enemy “Sever (North)” Operational Grouping will continue to operate simultaneously along the Northern Slobozhansky Direction, the Southern Slobozhansky Direction, and the Velykyi Burluk Direction and will attempt to seize as large an area as possible in Sumy Oblast and Kharkiv Oblast with the aim of subsequent political bargaining for their exchange for territories in Donetsk Oblast that the enemy will be unable to seize.
The “Zapad (West)” Operational Grouping command will focus on Kupyansk and expanding the southern part of the bridgehead on the Oskil rather than on tactical operations in the border zone. The 121st and 122nd Motorized Rifle Regiments of the 68th Motorized Rifle Division will actively support the advance of 1st Tank Army forces from the north in its offensive on Kupyansk and may be reinforced by a number of elements of the 69th Motorized Rifle Division as part of such a decision.
In the Kupyansk area, forces of the 1st Tank Army (47th Tank Division, 27th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade), elements of the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division, 4th Tank Division, and 68th Motorized Rifle Division of the 6th Combined Arms Army will under any circumstances attempt to eliminate the Defense Forces bridgehead east of Kupyansk and seize the city in the near term. The 1st Tank Army delivers its main effort in the direction of Pishchane–Kurylivka, that is, in the 47th Tank Division’s offensive sector, which is attempting to break through to Kivsharivka, consolidate there, and reach Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi with its main forces. The 27th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade and forward units of the 68th Motorized Rifle Division of the 6th Combined Arms Army periodically attempt to break through to Zaoskillia from the direction of Lyman Pershyi and in the direction of Vilshana–Petropavlivka, restore their positions in the western part of Kupyansk by attacking along the Oskil River from their bridgehead on it, with the aim of pinning Ukrainian Defense Forces units against the river or forcing them to withdraw from the Kolisnykivka and Hlushkivka area northward, while simultaneously preventing them from organizing a stable defense in the Zaoskillia area and in Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi. The task of seizing Kupyansk is currently of considerable importance to Russian military and political leadership, yet the Kupyansk Direction is unlikely to become the main focus of the enemy’s offensive campaign.
On the Sloviansk Direction, in a tactical perspective, the adversary’s “Zapad (West)” Operational Grouping will move to the decisive phase of the battles for the Defense Forces’ Lyman bridgehead on the Siverskyi Donets and will attempt to capture Lyman. The adversary’s Svatove grouping of forces, intentionally separated from the “Zapad (West)” Operational Grouping, will attack more actively in the direction of Borova. Ukrainian Defense Forces’ confident control over the areas of the Sloviansk Thermal Power Plant, Mykolaivka, and Raihorodka allows for the provision of stable logistics for the Lyman defense area of the 3rd Army Corps of Ukrainian Defense Forces from the southern bank of the Siverskyi Donets. With the aim of destroying logistics first and foremost, the adversary will increase fire impact on the Raihorodok – Staryi Karavan – Starodubivka – Sloviansk Thermal Power Plant area. The envelopment of the Lyman defense area from the northwest and southeast by troops of the 20th and 25th Combined Arms Armies may significantly assist the adversary in its further assault on the city itself. Therefore, before the assault on Lyman, the 20th Combined Arms Army will attempt to fully occupy the Yarova – Novoselivka – Drobysheve – Pryshyb area and subsequently attempt to reach the Oleksandrivka – Sosnove line and break through to Svyatohirsk.
On the Kostyantynivka direction, the enemy “Yug (South)” Operational Grouping will attempt to seize the Druzhkivka–Kostyantynivka agglomeration by enveloping the flanks of Kostyantynivka, while simultaneously breaking through to the near approaches to Druzhkivka, after which it will assault Kostyantynivka and push Ukrainian Defense Forces out of the Druzhkivka area under the threat of encirclement. Enemy forces will advance toward the Malotaranivka–Semenivka–Bilokuzmynivka–Komyshuvakha area. Ukrainian Defense Forces will be forced to withdraw from the area between Kostyantynivka and the Kleban-Byk Reservoir under the threat of encirclement to the area north of road T0504, which will slow the assault actions of the enemy’s 3rd Army Corps in Kostyantynivka.
On the Dobropillya Direction, in the near term the enemy will attempt to break through to the northwest, striking with the adjacent flanks of the 2nd and 51st Combined Arms Armies and breaking through to the Novohryshyne–Dobropillya (village)–Chernihivka–Shevchenko area, i.e. reaching the near approaches to Dobropillya city from the south. In the operational zone of the “Tsentr (Center)” Operational Grouping, Russian forces can no longer simultaneously break through to Dobropillya from the south, southeast, and east, meaning they are already forced to accomplish this task sequentially. It is likely that the 2nd Combined Arms Army will first break through from the direction of Pokrovsk to the near approaches to Dobropillya from the south, after which the main effort of the “”Tsentr (Center)” Operational Grouping command will shift to the 51st Combined Arms Army’s sector, which will break through to the city from the east and southeast, following which the assault on Dobropillya will begin.
On the Oleksandrivka Direction, units of the 39th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 68th Army Corps, operating on the left flank of the 29th Combined Arms Army, will be forced to withdraw to the Voskresenka–Maliivka line and attempt to hold it; the forces of the 29th Combined Arms Army as a whole will be forced to withdraw from the Vovcha river on their left flank.
On the Huliaypole Direction, the 5th Combined Arms Army will in the near term attempt to break through to the Verkhnya Tersa–Huliaypilske line, with its forward units already pushing in the direction of Verkhnya Tersa from Zaliznychne and Zelene and attacking along the Huliaypole–Orikhiv road toward Huliaypilske from Zaliznychne and from Dorozhnyanka. In addition, the army will attempt to restore its positions along the Khaychur river.
On the Orikhiv Direction, after several failed attempts to bring Mala Tokmachka and the surrounding area under control from the west, the 76th Air Assault Division will shift its main effort axis to the northeast — along the Bilohirya–Luhivske line — in an attempt to support the advance on the adjacent flank of the 5th and 35th Combined Arms Armies, which are operating southwest of Huliaypole and have advanced in the area of Myrne and north of Zahirne.
On the Prydniprovske direction, the command of the enemy’s “Dnepr” Operational Grouping will continue trying to take control of most of the island zone in the Dnipro delta in the direction of Kherson, will try to create a tactical bridgehead on the right bank, and to eliminate the tactical bridgeheads of the 30th Marine Corps of Ukrainian Defense Forces in the area of the automobile and railway bridges near Antonivka.
Russian operational losses from 24.02.22 to 26.03.26
Personnel - almost 1,292 170 (+1,210);
Tanks – 11,807 (+1);
Armored combat vehicles ‒ 24,278 (+4);
Artillery systems – 38,794 (+49);
Multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) – 1,698 (+2);
Anti-aircraft warfare systems – 1,337 (+1);
Vehicles and fuel tanks – 85,352 (+201);
Aircraft - 435 (0);
Helicopters – 350 (0);
UAV operational and tactical level – 198,389 (+2,038);
Intercepted cruise and other missiles – 4,491 (0);
Boats/ships – 35 (0).
Humanitarian + general:
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russia is preparing an operation against Ukraine’s water supply systems in the coming months.
According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the evening of March 25, Russian troops attacked Ukraine with 153 drones of various types, including Shahed, “Gerbera,” and “Italmas.” As of 08:00 on March 26, Air Defense Forces shot down or suppressed 130 enemy UAVs. Hits by 16 strike drones were recorded at 11 locations, along with falling debris in five places.
According to the Izmail District State Administration, overnight, Russian troops attacked the port and energy infrastructure of the Izmail district of Odesa Oblast. As a result of the strikes, damage to facilities in the city of Izmail and the Vylkove community was recorded.
According to the DTEK press service, on the night of March 26, Russian troops attacked four of the company’s energy facilities in Odesa Oblast. As a result of significant destruction, as of the morning, 33,400 families remain without electricity, while 31,500 households have already been reconnected. Restoration work is ongoing.
According to the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration Oleksandr Ganzha, on the morning of March 26, Russian troops attacked Kryvyi Rih, resulting in damage to an infrastructure facility; according to preliminary data, there are no casualties. Additionally, the occupiers struck the Nikopol and Synelnykove districts of the oblast with UAVs and artillery. Enterprises and a private house were damaged in the Marhanets, Pokrovske, Mykolaivka, Vasylkivka, and Petropavlivka communities.
According to Ihor Terekhov and Oleh Syniehubov, in the Slobidskyi district of Kharkiv, a Russian UAV hit the ground near a restaurant and residential buildings. As a result of the attack, 10 people were injured, including a 65-year-old man with blast injuries and a 58-year-old woman with an acute stress reaction. Windows were blown out in surrounding high-rise buildings, and approximately 10 cars were damaged.
According to the Vice Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba, on the night of March 26, Russian troops attacked railway and port infrastructure. In Kirovohrad Oblast, UAVs damaged a locomotive maintenance point and several units of traction rolling stock. In the south of the country, hits were recorded on piers, warehouses, buildings of port operators, and a marine terminal. According to preliminary data, there are no casualties.
On the morning of March 26, Russian Federation troops attacked Dnipro with drones, resulting in damage to a high-rise building and five people being injured. Apartments on the second and third floors of the multi-apartment building caught fire.
According to the head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin, during the day on March 26, an employee of a thermal power plant was killed as a result of Russian shelling of Kherson.
According to the head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration Ivan Fedorov, the Russian army attacked the frontline city of Orikhiv using UAVs. As a result of the strike, a private house was damaged, and two people were injured—a 71-year-old man and a woman.
According to the Ministry of Energy, as of the morning of March 26, as a result of hostilities and shelling of energy infrastructure facilities, some consumers in Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts remain without electricity. The most difficult situation is recorded in Chernihiv and Odesa oblasts, where a significant number of subscribers are de-energized due to substantial damage to energy equipment following several consecutive attacks.
Five more children were returned to Ukraine-controlled territory from the temporarily occupied part of Kherson Oblast, including four deprived of parental care, reported the head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin.
According to a report by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL) dated March 25, 2026, Russian state companies Gazprom and Rosneft financed the deportation and ideological “re-education” of at least 2,158 Ukrainian children. Between 2022 and 2025, children were transported from the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts to six camps in the Russian Federation and Crimea via subsidiaries and trade unions, where the children were subjected to pro-Russian indoctrination and militarization. Three of these facilities directly belong to Gazprom structures.