The Russian army advances in the Zaporozhye region. Moscow says it has captured two towns and brought the front closer to the city of Orikhiv
Image from Zaporozhye, Ukraine, on October 30, 2025. Credit: Ukrinform / ddp USA / Profimedia
Russia announced on Sunday that its troops had made significant advances in the Zaporozhye region in southeastern Ukraine, taking control of two towns as part of a wide-ranging offensive aimed at conquering the entire region.
With a smaller army than Russia's, Ukraine is trying to strengthen its defenses in the Donetsk region while maintaining stability on the rest of the front in the face of intense artillery and drone attacks by highly mobile Russian units.
Since entering Dnipropetrovsk region in late June, Russian forces have been advancing both here and in neighboring Zaporozhye region, where they have advanced on a relatively wide front by at least 30 km over the past six weeks, according to pro-Ukraine maps.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its troops had captured the town of Rivnopillia, exposing the town of Huliaipole to a possible encirclement attack. He also stated that Russian forces occupied Mala Tokmachka, located only 9 km from Orikhiv.
“It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this village for the defense of Orikhiv,” said Yuri Podoliaka, one of Russia's best-known military bloggers, adding that Mala Tokmachka is basically “the gateway to Orikhiv.”
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Last week, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief said that fighting had intensified in some sectors of the Zaporizhia front, including around the town of Huliaipole. Separately, the Ukrainian army announced that its troops had withdrawn from several villages in the area.
Ukrainian soldiers and commanders say they don't have enough men to hold many of the defensive positions, despite thousands of drones hovering over the battlefield and making advances by both sides extremely costly.
Russia controls about 19 percent of Ukraine's territory, or 115,476 square kilometers, an increase of just one percentage point from two years ago. Moscow wants to take control of the entire Donbas – which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – as well as the entire Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.
Russia claims about 75% of the Zaporozhye region, meaning Ukraine still controls around 7,000 square km, including the city of Zaporozhye, which had a population of more than 700,000 before the war.
