Brief Frontline Report – May 30, 2025
Report by Marat Khairullin with illustrations by Mikhail Popov.
Kupyansk Direction
From the Russian Ministry of Defense report: As a result of decisive actions by units of the "West" military group, the settlement of Kondrashovka in the Kharkov region has been liberated.
On May 23, the small settlement of Radkovka was liberated. At the time, we assumed that it was not the size that mattered but the quality—the terrain and the settlement's location. Today, units of the 121st Motorized Rifle Regiment, leveraging this advantage, drove the enemy out of the large village of Kondrashovka (800 residents) and, moreover, secured a section of the P-79 highway, blocking the city of Kupyansk from the north. This effectively encircled the Kupyansk fortified area.
Moving forward, after crossing the Kupyanka River in a western direction and gaining control over the settlements of Kovalevka and, further north, Velikaya Shapkovka, Russian Armed Forces units will firmly establish themselves on the watershed ridge, securing a height advantage over the adjacent area.
The village of Velikaya Shapkovka controls the intersection of lateral roads, one of which is a bypass route allowing the enemy to circumvent the P-79 highway section controlled by our forces. By securing this settlement, the Russian Armed Forces will sever the northern sector (the left flank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces) of the Kupyansk direction from its center—the Kupyansk fortified area.
Thus, with operational freedom to choose the direction of strikes and allocate resources, the Russian Armed Forces command, depending on the evolving situation, will be able to play a "chess game," exhausting the enemy's defenses with multidirectional, sequential strikes, loosening the "sore tooth" (Kupyansk) before its extraction.
A significant factor in the current situation is the transfer of Ukrainian Armed Forces units to the Konstantinovka area. The enemy's resource shortages and the planned escalation (orchestrated by our command) on multiple fronts are forcing Ukrainian commanders to strip critical sectors—a weakness our "chess players" are skillfully exploiting.
Northern Direction
Today, we present a new overview of the situation along the Russian state border in the Sudzha-Tetkino sector.
Two highly active areas are highlighted: Tetkino–Novy Put and Konstantinovka–Basovka.
In the first section, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been bashing their heads against a wall for over a month, attempting to breach our defenses. Their immediate tactical goal is clear—to divert our forces and resources from the neighboring sector, where the Russian Forces are steadily securing a buffer zone in Ukraine's Sumy region. However, the Ukrainian command's actions lack operational potential. They have voluntarily organized, at their own expense, the delivery of military equipment and personnel to a meat grinder that methodically and mercilessly grinds them to dust.
The Russian Armed Forces command appears to have reserves, as evidenced by the relentless advance in the Konstantinovka–Basovka sector. The first line of Ukrainian defense has been breached—two more remain ahead, before the city of Sumy.
The straight-line distance from the liberated village of Loknya to Sumy is 30 km.
Excellent run down. Thank you.
Thank you for adding elevation lines to the maps. It completes the picture of how combat and maneuver are developing by using terrain, or the difficulties posed by transiting it.