May 3 -10 live war map: Start of major Russian offensive instead of truce

Offensive bypassing Novopavlivka front

For several weeks now, despite numerous attacks, the Russian forces have been unable to achieve their desired goals in the southern parts of the former Kurakhove and now Novopavlivka front. Their progress has effectively stalled, both in attacks on Burlatske and Komar through Dniproenerhiia. They have been unable to fully capture Andriivka or Kostiantynopil. From Rozlyv, the occupying Russian forces have been attempting to extend their metastatic attacks to the outskirts of Bahatyr, but they cannot hold their position — their motorbike squads are being completely destroyed. Thus, as the Russian troops search for new weak spots, they concentrated superior forces and launched attacks in the usual directions. Their target was Novopil, the last village still under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the 2023 counteroffensive. The Putin’s forces managed to break through from the south to a depth of 2.5 km, crossing two rows of forest belts. Simultaneously, they advanced 1 km from the east along the road from Novosilka to Novopil. However, after a rapid breakthrough, their advance has now stalled.

Photo: Espreso

In the north of the Novopavlivka front, the Russian forces continued to fail in their efforts to reach the administrative border of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions by May 9. They have stopped at a distance of 2.6 km, and Novopavlivka, which could be a realistic target for such a selfless movement to the west, is another 8 km away. Now the Russian General Staff will give a new deadline for some other date.

Counterattacks on the Pokrovsk front

During the week, the occupying Russian army slightly expanded their control zone around Uspenivka, where they eventually managed to gain a foothold. They also launched a counteroffensive and recaptured the central part of the village of Shevchenko. In the neighboring section of the front, the Ukrainian Defense Forces counterattacked and retook Lysivka.

Photo: Espreso

Despite the highest concentration of fighting in the Pokrovsk sector, which accounts for a third of all fighting on the front, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to stabilize the front there, and the Russian army does not have enough forces to attack Pokrovsk. Their assaults were limited to achieving certain tactical and preparatory goals. At the same time, realizing this, the Russian invaders are trying to achieve a breakthrough on another section of the front — along the road between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka. The realization of the plan will allow the occupying Russian forces not only to launch an offensive on Kostiantynivka, but also to start bypassing Pokrovsk from the northeast.

Crisis on the Kostiantynivka front

It is here that the most dynamic and threatening situation has recently developed, as the Russian aggressor has concentrated the resources of two combined armies and significantly outnumbers Ukrainian forces. After all, the Russian troops are in the final stages of pushing the Ukrainian Defense Forces out of Toretsk and Chasiv Yar and are preparing an offensive on Kostiantynivka from the east and south. This week, they did not make any significant advances on this flank, except for entering Leonidivka after a 1.5 km breakthrough on the outskirts of Toretsk, and advancing through the gray zone along the Donetsk- Kostiantynivka highway towards Ukrainian positions in Romanivka. 

Ukraine-Russia war map, May 3-10, photo: Espreso

However, the enemy had serious breaches in Ukrainian defense on the right flank. They managed to cut the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka highway in several places. In particular, after the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew to Nova Poltavka and Malynivka, the Putin army continued their advance northward and occupied Novoolenivka and went beyond it, continuing on to Kostiantynivka. They also entered Oleksandropil, turning the offensive vector to the east. To the west, they have already launched an assault on Nova Poltavka and are expanding their presence on the road.

Since the beginning of May, the occupying Russian soldiers have made a breakthrough 7 kilometers to the north and managed to expand their zone of control by the same number of kilometers. The Russians are not planning to stop and aim to push as deep as possible into Ukrainian rear. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not have enough resources to stabilize the front. Probably, we will soon be talking about fighting near Kostiantynivka. But this section of the front is currently the only one where rapid changes are taking place.

Ukraine-Russia war map, May 3-10, photo: Espreso

Creeping offensive on Siversk

The Siversk “fortress” has never been occupied by the Russians, although it has been a priority target for them since the beginning of the war, as it covered a direct exit to Sloviansk. During the counteroffensive in 2022, Ukraine managed to recapture the high ground in Bilohorivka, and since then the Ukrainian Defense Forces have successfully held it. However, gradually, meter by meter, the Russian forces were biting off Ukrainian defenses. Recently, we had to state that for the second time in this war, Bilohorivka was again under occupation, and the Russian troops captured most of the dominant heights there and began to develop an offensive on neighboring Hryhorivka. This could also negatively affect the holding of Ukrainian positions in the “forest of miracles” to the north across the Siverskyi Donets, which is a threatening foothold that allows us to think about our attack on Kreminna. Although the Russians are currently advancing only from the east, they are concentrating new resources to launch an offensive on Siversk from the south as well. 

Ukraine-Russia war map, May 3-10, photo: Espreso

Lyman front stabilizes

For several weeks now, the occupying Russian troops have been fighting head-on and have not been able to capture the small village of Nove, which is quite strategic because of its location on a hill. Until the Russian forces capture Nove and the neighboring Lypove, they cannot continue their offensive on Lyman, and so the front is currently frozen here. 

Obviously, in this case, the Russian armed forces are trying to outflank them. Over the past week, they managed to seize 5 kilometers in the gray zone south of Nove, and also made their way 1.5 kilometers north of Katerynivka to Novomykhailivka, which is currently being fought over. It seems that Putin's forces have changed their focus and postponed the attack on the Lyman, focusing instead on advancing north to Borova, where the front has remained static for almost six months.

Ukraine-Russia war map, May 3-10, photo: Espreso

Northern Kharkiv region prepares for attacks

Although we write little about the fighting in the area of Vovchansk, as there are no actual territorial changes, this does not mean that the Russian troops have stopped considering it a priority for them. The fighting there is quite fierce, and the Ukrainian soldiers have been unable to move from their positions for weeks to rest. Recently, the Ukrainian Defense Forces managed to capture a fairly large area of forest north of Lyptsi, moving the front 2.5 kilometers north towards the border. This tactical success is quite important before the offensive — the forest will provide Ukrainian troops with reliable cover. 

Meanwhile, the Russian forces are preparing to bypass Vovchansk from the east, attacking towards Vovchanski Khutory, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are currently keeping the situation under control. 

Ukraine-Russia war map, May 3-10, photo: Espreso

New offensive in Kursk region

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have completely withdrawn from the Belgorod region, and fighting is still going on in the last two villages on the Sudzha front. The Russian forces are trying to expand the gray buffer zone in the north of Sumy region, but no territorial changes have occurred there in a week.

Instead, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, having released some troops and realizing the need to create new threats in the Kursk region, launched a local offensive on the border town of Tyotkino. Since last year's offensive, the right bank of the Seim near Tyotkino remained under Ukrainian control, and thus the Russian border detachment was already semi-encircled. Before the attack, Ukrainian missiles destroyed the command post of the drone unit.

Ukraine-Russia war map, May 3-10, photo: Espreso

Then, the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to attack the Russian fortification from several sides — directly on the road across the border, as well as bypassing it from the left flank. In the town itself, the Ukrainian paratroopers managed to advance towards the railway station, but without gaining a foothold. However, the western part of the town was still under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The bypass maneuver was no less successful. However, the fighting is still ongoing here, so it is too early to talk about the end of the operation. 

The maps were created using data from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other verified open sources. They are approximate and only represent general trends in the combat zone.