Ukraine War Maps Show Ground Won, Lost as Russia Steps Up Attacks

Russian forces made minor territorial gains on Friday near the eastern Ukrainian towns of Avdiivka and Bakhmut, the latter of which is already under occupation.

The attacks coincided with one of the most-intense aerial bombardments of Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's invasion in February 2022. Thirty-nine people were killed after a wave of missiles and drones targeted cities including Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Lviv, according to the latest report from Washington D.C.-based thinktank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Since the Ukrainian counteroffensive stalled in late fall, the conflict has entered something of a stalemate, with little territory being exchanged. This is despite a massive Russian assault on Avdiivka, where Kyiv said Moscow is suffering 10,000 casualties for each kilometer (0.6 miles) captured. However, Ukraine has had success on the Black Sea, sinking Russian landing ship Novocherkassk in the Crimean port of Feodosia early on Tuesday.

The ISW said that Russian troops made some advances to the south of Avdiivka on Friday, as well as northeast of nearby Vodyane; the latter was confirmed by geolocated footage seen by the think tank. Russian sources also said to have "advanced northwest of Avdiivka near Krasnohorivka and towards the Avdiivka Coke Plant," though the ISW was unable to verify this. Newsweek has as yet to substantiate the Russian troop casualty figures or Moscow's claims of territorial gains. We contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email on Saturday.

Near Bakhmut, which Russia seized in May after a brutal fight, both sides launched offensive operations on Friday. The ISW said that Ukrainian troops made advances to the northeast of the city, while a Kremlin-aligned blogger posted that Moscow's forces advanced south of the village of Spirne.

The ISW added: "Geolocated footage confirms that Russian forces previously advanced near Bakhmut, while Russian and Ukrainian forces continued positional engagements in the area on December 29."

Fierce fighting on Friday was also reported by the ISW to the southwest of Donetsk City, along the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast, though there were no confirmed changes in territory.

The ISW said that Russia's massive aerial assault on Ukraine on Friday was "a culmination of several months of Russian experimentation with various drone and missile combinations and efforts to test Ukrainian air defenses."

The think tank said the attacks were aimed to "degrade Ukrainian morale and Ukraine's ability to sustain its war effort against Russia" and added that more were to come around the New Year holiday, though the ISW said: "A Russian effort to break Ukraine's will to fight is very unlikely to succeed."

The Ukrainian General Staff said that Russia used around 160 projectiles in Friday's attack, including 36 Iranian-designed Shahed-136/131 missiles and around 120 missiles of various types. Newsweek has been unable to verify these figures as yet.

In a statement, President Joe Biden condemned Russia's attacks, which he said struck a number of civilian areas.

The statement read: "Overnight, Russia launched its largest aerial assault on Ukraine since this war began. This massive bombardment used drones and missiles, including missiles with hypersonic capability, to strike cities and civilian infrastructure all across Ukraine.

"Strikes reportedly hit a maternity hospital, a shopping mall, and residential areas—killing innocent people and injuring dozens more. It is a stark reminder to the world that, after nearly two years of this devastating war, Putin's objective remains unchanged. He seeks to obliterate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped," Biden's statement added.

In response to the attacks, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the U.K. was sending "hundreds of British-made air-defence missiles" to aid Ukraine's defense.