On the Kharkiv axis, OSINT researcher Clément Molin rejects reports of the encirclement of Ukrainian troops north of Velykyi Burluk. In his assessment, Russian forces in the northeast of the region are pushing forward deeply thanks to airstrikes and the lack of Ukrainian fortifications, but there is no encirclement threat yet.
On the Kupiansk axis, analyst under the nickname Playfra writes about ongoing Russian penetrations into the urban area of Kupiansk, which remains in the “gray zone”. According to his information, Russian troops are present mainly in the northern and also the central part of the city, while Ukrainian forces destroy infiltrated groups with drones and infantry, after which new ones take their place.
On the Lyman axis, Brigadier General Andrii Biletsky recorded an address from Sviatohirsk, which is in the rear of the 3rd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that he leads. He showed that there are no Russian troops in the city, although Vladimir Putin had previously personally claimed the “liberation” of Sviatohirsk. The pro-Russian Telegram channel “Military Informant” claims that Russian videos used as evidence of the city’s capture were filmed earlier by the Ukrainian side, and in one of the clips the head of the city military administration, Volodymyr Rybalkin, was replaced with a Russian serviceman using AI.
On the Sloviansk axis, OSINT researcher AMK Mapping reported the second bridge strike in two days in Kramatorsk with guided aerial bombs. One of the bridges is in the city center, the other connects Kramatorsk with Yasnohirka; on the second, only one lane was damaged, and it remained passable for vehicles. On the Kostiantynivka axis, the source “Tѣmnyy” writes that the Russian command is seeking to isolate Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka, while the DeepState project notes an expansion of Russian control south of Kostiantynivka and does not confirm the Russian Defense Ministry’s claim of capturing Kurtivka.
On the Zaporizhzhia axis, Ukrainian military observer Kostiantyn Mashovets reports that the forces of the Russian “Vostok” grouping continue assault and infiltration actions toward Orikhiv in order to facilitate attacks by the “Dnepr” grouping from the south. In his assessment, over two months Russian troops advanced here by 7–11 km, but he considers the pace of the offensive unsatisfactory and expects it to slow further due to Ukrainian counteroffensive actions on the right flank of “Vostok”.
The Finnish OSINT community Black Bird Group estimates that in August Russian troops captured about 133 sq. km of Ukrainian territory, which is more than in July but noticeably less than a year ago. On September 4, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian troops would not carry out air strikes on Russia during the visit of U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv and expects the same from the other side, but on the night of September 5 Russian forces continued drone and missile attacks. On the morning of September 5, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian troops had not ceased fire, and Ukrainian troops were carrying out combat tasks “in full”.
On September 5, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the president of Russia had ordered no strikes on Kyiv for three days. Zelensky, in turn, promised to suspend strikes on Moscow for three days, and the White House said the next steps would be announced in the coming weeks.
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