COLUMN: The Kramatorsk Pincer Movement — Saviez-vous Que? — Tous les jours, découvrez de nouvelles infos pour briller en société !

Primary Sources:

Institute for the Study of War and Critical Threats Project, assessment of the Russian offensive campaign of September 1, 2026: no confirmed Russian advances in the direction of Kupiansk; Russian footage from August 31 showing Velyka Chapkivka and the area north of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi is believed to be possibly doctored or generated by artificial intelligence; redeployment of elements of the 123rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (3rd Combined Arms Army, Southern Military District) from Siversk toward the Sloviansk front; Russian forces are seven to ten kilometers from Sloviansk and within artillery range, according to the head of the Sloviansk military administration; Ukrainian counterattacks confirmed north and south of Lyman; 72.23% of Kostiantynivka is in Russian hands; a Ukrainian brigade reported the use of tube artillery against the outskirts of Oleksiïevo-Droujkivka, 90.35 square kilometers captured by Russia in August 2026—an average of 2.91 per day—compared to 505.55 in August 2025; at least 129.81 square kilometers recaptured by Ukraine; 42,020 Russian casualties for the month; September 1, 2026

Institute for the Study of War and Critical Threats Project, assessment as of September 2, 2026: Russian offensive operations with no advance on Kupiansk; Russian resupply via drone airdrops; statements by Colonel Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for the Joint Forces Command, regarding Russian infiltrations north of Kupiansk and the failure to consolidate positions in Holubivka and Radkivka; shift of Russian operations toward Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi from the Pishchane direction; capture of Russian soldiers during a mop-up operation in Mykolaivka, east of Sloviansk, according to a geolocated video published on September 1; a geolocated Russian advance northwest of Kostiantynivka; a Ukrainian counteroffensive near Lyman pushing the lines of the Russian Northern Group back more than thirteen kilometers from Sviatohirsk; Vladimir Putin’s claim that thirteen Ukrainian battalions—approximately 5,000 soldiers—had been surrounded near Pisky-Radkivski, deemed unsubstantiated; September 2, 2026

Donetsk Regional State Administration, update on the evacuation of the population: 172,000 civilians in the controlled territory, 21,400 in the twenty communities classified as active combat zones, 10,100 children, including 3,000 in Kramatorsk and 4,000 in Sloviansk, six localities undergoing forced evacuation of families with children, more than 3,300 residents evacuated since early April, April 15, 2026

Donetsk Regional State Administration, evacuation update: 146,700 residents in the controlled territory, including 8,600 children; 17,000 people in active combat zones; 13,200 departures since the beginning of May, including 730 children; decreases of 6,500 in the Kramatorsk community and 2,800 in the Sloviansk community; the Kharkiv region transit center is receiving 200 to 250 people per day, May 27, 2026

Donetsk Regional State Administration, expansion of the mandatory and forced evacuation zone for families with children, decided in coordination with the Cabinet of Ministers’ headquarters for evacuation measures: specified streets in the city of Sloviansk, specified streets in the city of Kramatorsk, the entire village of Pryvillia, the entire village of Malotaranivka, streets in Bilenké, as announced by Vadym Filachkine, head of the regional administration, June 9, 2026

Donetsk Regional State Administration, evacuation update: 135,000 residents in the controlled territory, 9,500 departures since the beginning of June, including more than 780 children, 14,800 people in the twenty communities under active combat, 7,678 children in total, 393 children still present in mandatory evacuation zones, including 250 in neighborhoods of Sloviansk and 140 on the streets of Kramatorsk; 85 children evacuated in one week; 701 adults with limited mobility living alone and 533 refusing evacuation, June 24, 2026

Press Office of the “Khartiia” National Guard Corps, reproduced in full: The 23rd R.U.G. Assault Regiment of the 2nd National Guard Corps liberated an additional four square kilometers in the direction of Kupiansk, between Dvorichna and Zapadne, in part with the 35th Separate Marine Infantry Brigade; the total area of the sector now stands at 13.5 square kilometers, September 3, 2026

Press release from the press office of the 23rd R.U.G. Assault Regiment (2nd Corps of the National Guard “Khartiia”): Joint operations with personnel from the 35th Separate Marine Infantry Brigade in one of the sectors; four square kilometers of Ukrainian territory liberated between Zapadné and Dvoritchna in the Kharkiv region, September 3, 2026

Secondary Sources:

Euromaidan Press, article by David Axe on the Kramatorsk pincer movement: the northern prong of the pincer passing through Mykolaivka, four kilometers east of Sloviansk—described as the central pivot—and the southern prong along the road between the ruins of Kostiantynivka and Oleksiïevo-Droujkivka, threatening Droujkivka and then Kramatorsk six kilometers further on; a counterattack by mechanized and airborne assault brigades from Nové, about twenty-five kilometers northeast of Sloviansk, in the weakest part of the Russian advance; the 1st Azov Corps defending Kramatorsk; the 425th Assault Regiment tasked with clearing infiltrators from the brigades’ defense zones; guided glide bombs weighing approximately 200 kilograms dropped by Sukhoi Su-34s; regarding the 4th National Guard Brigade, just under 220 square kilometers were occupied in August 2026—25% more than in July and nearly half as much as in August 2025, a 1,200-kilometer front line, fifty-five months of expanded warfare, General Mykhailo Drapaty as commander-in-chief, Russian objective of direct assaults on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk by next year at the latest, September 3, 2026

Euromaidan Press: Khartiia soldiers clear four square kilometers near Kupiansk while Russia pushes toward the railroad junction; the 23rd R.U.G. Assault Regiment and the 35th Separate Marine Infantry Brigade are positioned between Dvorichna and Zapadne; the Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi station is targeted by Russia; the Oskil River dividing the city, a Russian target as a logistics hub and a springboard into the interior of the Kharkiv region; comments by Viktor Trehoubov on September 2 regarding Russia’s intent to shrink the Ukrainian bridgehead; Russian resupply paralyzed in July by fuel shortages, with water delivered exclusively by drone, September 3, 2026

Kyiv Post: Ukrainian troops liberate an additional four square kilometers near Kupiansk—the 23rd R.U.G. Assault Regiment of the National Guard’s 2nd “Khartiia” Corps—bringing the total area in the sector to 13.5 square kilometers from 9.5 previously; a joint operation with the 35th Separate Marine Infantry Brigade, Ukrainian and foreign personnel; the “Khartiia” Corps has been defending the Kharkiv region since 2022; explicit mention of the impossibility of independently verifying reports from the field, September 3, 2026

Militarnyi: The R.U.G. regiment liberates an additional four square kilometers in the Kupiansk district—chronology from August 25, including the clearing of an area southwest of Dvorichna and the capture of the northern part of Zapadne; from August 30, including the recapture of two square kilometers of forest near Zapadne; and from September 3, bringing the total to 13.5 square kilometers; the 4th Battalion was reorganized into the 23rd Separate Assault Regiment in March 2026 after serving in the 47th Magura Mechanized Brigade until the fall of 2025; foreign volunteers from Latin American countries were present on September 3, 2026

Hromadské; reorganization of the Donetsk Front command by Mykhailo Drapaty one month after he took office: Andriy Biletsky (3rd Corps) in the Lyman sector and the Kramatorsk-Kostiantynivka area; Denys Prokopenko (1st Azov Corps) in Dobropillia and the southwest; Emil Ichkoulov appointed to lead the 11th Corps responsible for the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk defense; Valeri Skred confirmed as commander of the 19th Corps in Kostiantynivka, Russian forces are seven to ten kilometers from Sloviansk along the Lyman axis, and artillery is already striking the city, according to Mayor Vadym Liakh; reinforcements from the 123rd Brigade have arrived from Siversk; the front line has remained virtually unchanged for a month; a Ukrainian general commented on the main battle of this year and the next, September 1, 2026

Mezha, citing Ukrinform: 67,500 civilians in the Kramatorsk community and 46,000 in the Sloviansk community, for a total of 113,500; approximately 18,000 civilians in areas of active combat requiring humanitarian aid; thirty daily evacuation groups, including fifteen teams of volunteers, eleven “White Angels” groups from the National Police, and four “Phoenix” teams from the State Emergency Service, according to Dmytro Petlin of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, May 14, 2026

Mezha, an update from the Kharkiv region on the evacuation of Kupiansk: approximately sixty people remain on the left bank of the city; officially, no children are present; more than 250 people have been evacuated from the district since October 27; sixteen false evacuation requests, some of which claimed children were present; two children have left with their families since August, according to Oleh Syniehoubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, November 12, 2025

Euromaidan Press, Russia razes a strategic Ukrainian rail hub near Kharkiv: Koupiansk, the second-largest rail hub in the Kharkiv region, with five major lines converging toward Russia, the occupied territories, the liberated areas, and Kharkiv; serves as a center for logistics, storage, and troop deployment, 90% of the infrastructure destroyed or damaged; fewer than 1,700 civilians remain out of a pre-war population of 55,000; the situation described as critical by Andriy Bessedin, head of the Kupiansk City Military Administration; two municipal employees killed on May 23, 2025; May 24, 2025

Kyiv Independent: Kramatorsk train station closed indefinitely; Ukrzaliznytsia announced on November 4, 2025, a reduction in service from Kyiv and Lviv, with a new terminus at Houssarivka in the Kharkiv region, security concerns due to intensified Russian strikes on railway infrastructure; buses provided from Houssarivka by the Donetsk Regional Military Administration to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, a city located about 20 kilometers from the front line; the station’s role as a departure and return point for military personnel, November 4, 2025

Frontliner, on the suspension of trains to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk: the Intercity+ Kyiv-Kramatorsk, nicknamed the “war train,” carried nearly one million passengers from October 2022 until the suspension; one of the country’s busiest lines, with the terminus moved to the village of Houssarivka and a bus connection provided, description of a functioning train station, an open café, or a post office serving as a lifeline for residents of frontline cities

UA.News: Ukrposhta closes its last office in Druzhkivka due to shelling: closure on June 30, 2026, due to constant Russian shelling and the danger to employees and residents; pensions, social benefits, and government aid are accessible via postal money orders, through the offices in Krasnotorets and Kramatorsk, or through mobile service counters operating near the front lines; the closure is announced as temporary, effective June 30, 2026

Glavcom: Approximately 60,000 civilians remain in Kramatorsk despite the fighting, according to French analyst Clément Molin, who works with satellite imagery and geolocated videos: approximately 210,000 civilians across the Donbas; Russian forces advancing toward the high ground overlooking Kramatorsk and Sloviansk through wooded areas serving as infiltration routes; needs for evacuation and medical assistance, August 23, 2026

United24 Media: Russian advance toward Sloviansk halted by Ukrainian counterattacks: counterattack near Raï-Oleksandrivka east of Sloviansk, no confirmed Russian advances toward Kostiantynivka on August 1 and 2, increased use of guided glide bombs, including a FAB-250 on Sloviansk on August 2, infiltration of Kostiantynivka by small sabotage and assault groups, mention of Vadym Liakh, head of the military administration of the city of Sloviansk, August 3, 2026

Encyclopedic entry on Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi: a town in the Kharkiv region on the left bank of the Oskil River, with a population of 8,212 in 2022; a major railroad junction with connections to Kharkiv, Sviatohirsk, Sievierodonetsk, and—via Kupiansk—to Stary Oskol in Russia; founded in 1895 to serve the station on the Balashov–Kharkiv line; occupied by the Germans from July 1942 to February 3, 1943; occupied by Russia in February 2022 and recaptured on September 26, 2022; accessed September 3, 2026

Encyclopedic entry on Kramatorsk: estimated population of 147,145 in 2022, the police station and city council were seized by pro-Russian militants in uniform on April 12, 2014; liberated on July 5, 2014; has served as the provisional seat of the Donetsk region since October 2014; the train station was attacked on April 8, 2022; evacuation of children and guardians ordered on September 10, 2025, for certain areas; accessed September 3, 2026

Encyclopedic entry on Sloviansk: population of 105,141 according to the 2022 estimate; the city was seized on April 12, 2014, by about fifty armed men led by Igor Girkin; liberated on July 5, 2014; three passenger train stations and lines to Lozova, Lyman, and Kramatorsk; mechanical engineering industry; evacuation order issued by Mayor Vadym Liakh; accessed September 3, 2026

Encyclopedic entry on the attack on the Kramatorsk train station: strike on April 8, 2022, around 10:30 a.m., by two Tochka-U cluster-munition missiles, 63 civilians killed, including 9 children, and 150 wounded, including 34 children; between 1,000 and 4,000 civilians were present awaiting evacuation, the majority of whom were women and children; accessed September 3, 2026

Encyclopedic entry on the Kupiansk offensive: Russia’s objective was to cut off Ukrainian logistics on the eastern bank of the Oskil River and reach logistics hubs such as Lyman; crossings of the Oskil near Dvorichna and Novomlynsk from November 26 to 28, 2024, Russian claim of Dvorichna on January 28, 2025; entry into northern Kupiansk on July 24, 2025; announcement by Valery Gerasimov on November 20, 2025, of complete capture—a claim that was disputed; deployment of the National Guard’s 2nd “Khartiia” Corps, accessed September 3, 2026

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