January 8-15 live war map: Russia aims to settle key frontline issues before Trump’s inauguration

On one hand, the situation looks dire, but none of these threats will turn into a victorious scenario for Putin before Trump's inauguration, and most of the Russian plans will not be realized for a long time. Currently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces cannot stop the gradual advance of the Russians, but the Russian army is also quite exhausted, so the pace of their advance has significantly slowed down.

Novopavlivka front

After the occupation of Kurakhove, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing to defend a new fortified area within the triangle of the villages of Andriivka, Kostiantynopil, and Ulakly, as well as along the Vovcha and Sukhi Yaly rivers. However, some of our troops are still defending along the Sukhi Yaly River, where the Russians have been attempting daily advances from the villages of Zelenivka, Sukhi Yaly, and Kostiantynopil. Here, the Russian army is trying to cross the river at various points and break through the road from Yantarne to Dachne. Currently, fighting is ongoing for the small village of Yantarne, half of which is under Russian control, but the Defense Forces are preventing them from gaining further success.

If Russia manages to capture Dachne, the position of Ukrainian forces will worsen sharply, and the situation will repeat itself, similar to the encirclement that occurred a month ago, slightly south in the area of Uspenivka. Despite having no significant success on this section of the front, the invading troops are simultaneously attempting to resolve the issue by attacking in the direction of Kostiantynopil and Ulakly. However, in the past few weeks, Ukrainian defenders have repelled all their attacks in this area.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

To the north along the Vovcha River, interesting events unfolded. On one side, the Russian army is advancing from the village of Shevchenko towards Andriivka along the river, while on the other side, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a counterattack and retook part of the village of Shevchenko. Although the Ukrainian forces withdrew relatively quickly from Petropavlivka and Sloviansk, they have taken up positions along the ravines and are preventing the Russians from advancing further west.

Meanwhile, the General Staff has already established a new fortified area in this section of the front. Novopavlivka, located in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, has become a key settlement that gave its name to the new front. As a result, the General Staff has merged the previously separate Kurakhove and Berdyansk directions, which have now effectively disappeared.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

Encirclement of Pokrovsk

The process of surrounding Pokrovsk will take several months, if not half a year. However, Russian forces are methodically and ruthlessly carrying out their objective. Furthermore, following the conquest of Kurakhove, the frontline was drastically reduced, freeing up additional resources for the Russians, which they moved to the Pokrovsk Front.

On a stretch of over 11 km from Yaseneve to Uspenivka, the Russians have made little progress. While they are steadily moving westward towards the Dnipropetrovsk region, their territorial gains amount to only hundreds of meters per week. Currently, the Russians have begun occupying Yaseneve, where fighting is ongoing in the center of the village. They have also finally occupied Novoielyzavetivka and started advancing towards Nadiivka. Similarly, the long battle for Novovasylivka ended with its occupation, after which Russian forces turned their focus to Uspenivka.

The situation is much more complicated in the area between the Solona River and Pokrovsk, where the Russians, moving north, are trying to bypass Pokrovsk and cut off its logistical routes. After occupying the villages of Vovche and Solone, they proceeded to cut the Pokrovsk-Mizova road and reached it between the villages of Kotlyne and Udachne. To secure their positions, the enemy is forced to attack both villages, which were previously held by the Defense Forces, making the battle here likely to be prolonged.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

The Russian advance between Pisochne and Kotlyne towards Zvyrova, which is already a de facto suburb of Pokrovsk, looks quite dangerous. Over the past week, the Russian army has moved more than 800 meters here. It is likely that the Russians will not only continue towards Pokrovsk but also bypass Kotlyne to capture Ukrainian positions.

On the entire southern front of Pokrovsk, active assaults continue, with the invading Russian forces trying to get as close as possible to the city. However, their progress has been minimal, except for the occupation of Zelene, which had been holding a circular defense for a long time. Yet, the Russians will not attack the city until they fully encircle it and cut off its logistics.

That is why they have intensified their attacks on the eastern Pokrovsk front, where, over the course of three weeks, they have completely occupied Vozdvizhhenka and are attempting to expand the front line to the north and south of the village, aiming to reach the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka highway from multiple points. On the northern flank, the Russian army has engaged in battles for Baraniika, while on the southern side, they attempted to capture Yelizavetivka, but the Defense Forces managed to repel them.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

Toretsk almost occupied

Toretsk has become a large grey zone. Russian forces have captured the central part of the city and significantly intensified their offensive on other districts. The Russian army has infiltrated many buildings in areas under our control. As a result, most of the part of Toretsk previously held by the Defense Forces has now become a grey zone. This week, the Russians continued to push towards the western outskirts of the city, further dividing Ukrainian defenses between the northern and southern neighborhoods. The Defense Forces still control about 10-15% of the city, including the Toretsk mine on the northwestern outskirts and part of the spoil heaps of the Central mine in the southern part.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

On the other hand, the Russian army has failed to break through the flanks and surround Toretsk. The Defense Forces still hold Leonidivka and the frontline along Dachne and Krymske, which allows for a gradual retreat. However, it is important to acknowledge that the battle for Toretsk has been lost, and its full occupation is a matter of weeks.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

Chasiv Yar is falling—should Kostiantynivka prepare?

The defense of Chasiv Yar, which has been held for a year and three months, is beginning to show significant weakness. This week, Russian forces managed to break through toward the railway station, although they have not yet captured it. However, they now control the Northern district and part of the neighboring Desiata district. Additionally, the Russian army has taken over the main workshop of the refractory factory and started advancing on another large workshop across from the railway station.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces were also forced to retreat from another district, Novyi, which borders the Canal. As a result, the defense forces have completely withdrawn from the defense line along the Canal in the city and concentrated on defending the outermost western neighborhoods.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

Nevertheless, the Ukrainian forces managed to slow the breakthrough and stabilize the situation. The battle for Chasiv Yar is not lost yet; it continues. However, given the significant deterioration of the situation near Toretsk, which will also affect the Chasiv Yar front, discussions have already begun about preparing Kostiantynivka for active urban combat.

Crossing of Oskil River and advance on Kupiansk

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been unable to eliminate the bridgehead that the Russians established south of Dvorichna. Moreover, they have expanded it by capturing half of the settlement and pushing south to the outskirts of the village of Zakhidne. The Russian forces' clear intention is to create a threat to Kupiansk by advancing on both sides of the Oskil River. From there, they will move toward Kivsharivka, as capturing it would allow the Russians to unite their front line and form a strong strike force aimed at Kupiansk.

To achieve this, the Russians are daily sending troops to the other side of the Oskil River. However, it is still possible to neutralize this bridgehead if the Ukrainian Armed Forces can allocate additional resources to deal with it.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

Kursk operation: counteroffensives continue

The Russians attempted to break through to Sudzha and attacked the village of Makhnivka, located 2 km to the south. However, Ukrainian forces inflicted significant losses on them, forcing them to retreat, and the grey zone expanded to Cherkaska Konoplanka. Nonetheless, the Ukrainian counteroffensive also slowed down. Initially, Ukrainian forces captured the villages of Beresty and Novoselivka, but after intense fighting, Russian forces managed to push them out. At the same time, the Russians counterattacked and advanced from Nechaevka to Russkoye Porechnoye. On the northern flank, Russian forces attacked the village of Pohreby, where fighting is still ongoing.

Despite this, the Russians managed to move a significant portion of the western front eastward, covering a stretch of 10 km from Pohreby to Loknya, while Ukrainian forces are building a new defensive line along the Mala Loknya River.

Ukraine Russia war live map, January 8-15, Photo: Espreso

The most intense Russian assault occurred at Mala Loknya, where they attacked Viktorivka and Mykolaivka, which are 500 meters from the village. However, Ukrainian troops successfully repelled the attack, destroying 500 Russian soldiers in just one battle.

On the eastern flank, the Russians not only attempted to break through to Sverdlikovo to sever Ukrainian defenses, but also made several attempts to attack across the border into Zhuravka. All these attacks were repelled.

Largest attack on Russia

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have developed their own drones capable of carrying guided aerial bombs. To mark this achievement, Ukraine launched one of the largest combined attacks on Russia during the course of the war, utilizing both missiles and drones. The targets included production workshops in St. Petersburg, chemical plants near Bryansk and Kazan, a defense enterprise in Engels, a military warehouse in Rostov, a refinery in Saratov, and explosions occurred at sites in the Tula region. Ukraine struck targets ranging from 200 to 1,100 km from the Russian border.

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.