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Ukrainian forces have stepped up activity near Hulyaipole, but not as part of a counteroffensive, Ukraine’s military says. Pro-war Russian bloggers (“Z-channels”) are spreading false claims about a supposed Ukrainian “counteroffensive” and about shifts in the front line, according to Ukraine’s Defense Forces in the south. Ukrainian officials say Russian troops briefly entered a village before being swiftly cleared out. Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the Defense Forces of the South, told RBC-Ukraine that Ukrainian troops conduct daily “clearing” operations against Russian assault groups attempting to infiltrate Ukrainian positions. He said Russia is portraying these routine actions as a “counteroffensive,” which is not taking place. Voloshyn also said a Russian-published front-line map is inaccurate, claiming the fighting is actually 12–14 kilometers in the opposite direction. His comments came hours after Z-channels reported a Ukrainian advance. Voloshyn described the Ukrainian actions as “reconnaissance-and-search operations,” carried out up to 20 times a day to neutralize Russian sabotage groups. “From a military standpoint, these actions are not a counteroffensive,” he said. Russian outlets also circulated a map suggesting a significant westward shift of the front near Hulyaipole, placing Ternovate, Nechaivka, Andriivka, Otradne, Novooleksandrivka, Alekseyevka (near Pokrovske), Sosnivka and Orestopil in the occupied zone. The Ukrainian command’s representative said Russian forces remain far from Pokrovske and have not taken Ternovate. According to Voloshyn, small Russian groups try to push deeper into Ukrainian lines and then present those brief incursions as the capture of new settlements. Ukrainian troops, he said, quickly “clear” such groups. He cited Ternovate as an example, saying Russia reported seizing the village even though the front line is actually 10–15 kilometers away. “They were there for only a few hours before being destroyed by our forces,” the press officer said. In its morning report on February 9, Ukraine’s General Staff showed the front line running along the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in the Hulyaipole sector. According to the General Staff, both Ternovate and Dobropillya remain under Ukrainian control.

Ukraine’s Defense Forces conducted a series of precision strikes on Russian military targets, inflicting what they described as significant losses to Russia’s “offensive potential.” The attacks destroyed a command post, an ammunition depot and, according to preliminary estimates, a large drone warehouse holding about 6,000 FPV drones. The strikes were part of ongoing efforts to degrade Russia’s combat capabilities and targeted sites that play a key role in supporting and controlling Russian units, Ukraine’s General Staff said . The attacks were carried out both in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and deep inside Russia. Overnight on February 9, near the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region, Ukrainian units hit a command post of a Russian airborne unit, the military said. Disabling the site has significantly complicated Russian coordination in that area, according to the assessment. At the same time, on Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine’s Kherson region, near the settlement of Novoalekseyevka, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian ammunition depot. The hit substantially reduced the stock of munitions used to support combat operations, the statement said. The heaviest losses, according to the General Staff, stem from earlier strikes on a drone warehouse near Rostov-on-Don. Three containers filled with FPV drones and components were confirmed destroyed. Preliminary calculations indicate around 6,000 drones were eliminated, with several additional containers damaged. “Ukraine’s Defense Forces will continue systematic actions aimed at weakening the offensive capabilities and reducing the combat potential of the Russian aggressor,” the statement said. The General Staff noted that figures on Russian losses and the scale of the damage are still being clarified. Russia’s Ministry of Defense has not commented on the claims. On February 4, explosions were reported at energy infrastructure sites in Russia’s Bryansk region. OSINT analysts later said the 750 kV Novobryanskaya substation near the town of Klintsy was hit. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces are targeting Russia’s energy sector because President Vladimir Putin sells energy resources and uses the proceeds to fund the killing of civilians.

Ayk Gasparyan, the commander of the volunteer battalion “ArBat” with the call sign “Abrek,” went to war with the Russian Armed Forces and was killed after three years of fighting. “Abrek” had been imprisoned for robbery and was due to serve seven years, but went on to receive a state honor from President Vladimir Putin. What distinguished a convicted criminal who began his path in Russia and ended his days on the front in Ukraine? Gasparyan, a Russian volunteer of Armenian origin, was carrying out a combat mission against Ukrainian forces and did not survive, the defense-focused outlet “Militarnyi” reported . The circumstances of his death are unknown, but there is information about his activities harmful to Ukraine and Armenia: in both countries the “activist” acted in the interests of Russia and other criminal groups. The incident was reported on a Telegram post by the so-called “mayor” of occupied Horlivka, the outlet found. The information appeared on the morning of February 9. The post said the commander of the ArBat special-purpose battalion, Ayk “Abrek,” had been killed. Militarnyi noted that “ArBat” was part of the assault unit “Pyatnashka” of the Russian Armed Forces. The unit was created in 2022 by crime boss Armen Sarkisyan, known as “Gorlovsky.” Gasparyan, previously convicted of robbery and other crimes, became the commander of “ArBat.” The outlet also reported that the mercenary fought near Soledar and Bakhmut with the Wagner private military company and, in 2023, received the Order of Courage, which was presented to him personally by Putin. Russian media wrote about Ayk Gasparyan, who was killed in the war in Ukraine while serving with Russia’s army. It emerged he was a former MMA fighter and convicted felon who, at the start of the war, was in a Ryazan prison on an armed robbery charge and was to serve seven years. When Wagner’s then-owner Yevgeny Prigozhin began recruiting volunteers, Gasparyan signed up and fought in Donetsk region. The BBC also noted he not only joined Wagner, but recorded recruitment videos for inmates, assuring them they would not be deceived and that they were supposedly fighting like ordinary mobilized soldiers rather than as “cannon fodder.” The convict Gasparyan appeared during an awards ceremony in January 2023. The ceremony was conducted by Putin, who traveled to the Southern Military District. Media noted that the order went to a man who had been imprisoned for robbery and sought to steal 300,000 rubles. In February 2025, the Telegram channel Baza wrote about Gasparyan and his patron Sarkisyan. The post followed an explosion at a high-rise in Moscow’s Alye Parusa residential complex that seriously wounded Sarkisyan. Journalists found a photo of both men receiving a church blessing for the war against Ukrainians. Other prominent Russian figures have been killed on the Russia-Ukraine front. In October 2025, for example, reports emerged that Russian propagandist Ivan Zuev had been killed.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence directorate published an audio intercept it says confirms another war crime committed by Russian forces. According to the intercepted call, two servicemen from Russia’s army shot local civilians in the Pokrovsk area and then left their positions without authorization. The information is confirmed in the conversation by an officer of the 30th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of Russia’s 3rd Army, the agency said. In the recording, a Russian soldier speaks openly about the crime and warns fellow troops about the fugitives: “Look, there are two ‘pencils,’ two ‘pencils’ — they might come into your area. Those b------ shot civilians and fled.” The intercept also includes an order to detain the soldiers involved. The officer tells subordinates to seize them immediately if spotted: “So if you see them, detain them as soon as they cross your path — tie them up.” Ukraine’s military intelligence said systematic killings of civilians, as well as extrajudicial reprisals against Russia’s own servicemen, again demonstrate that war crimes are a deliberate, targeted policy. It added that every crime committed against the Ukrainian people will be met with inevitable, just retribution. Two days earlier, two people were killed in Donetsk region by Russian shelling.

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Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Fediienko says the country’s communications sector is facing serious problems due to the aftermath of Russian strikes, with mobile operators feeling the impact first. In a Facebook post , the member of parliament’s committee on cybersecurity and government communications says not everyone in the industry “prepared for the apocalypse.” According to Fediienko, mobile operators were the first to “crumble”: in villages and small towns, service is disappearing entirely. Prolonged power outages are also taking down legacy fixed networks as batteries simply can’t hold up. “This is exactly where the system wasn’t ready. I’d even say it didn’t prepare at all. Money was poured anywhere else (schemes were found to siphon cash), but not into network resilience,” the lawmaker says. Fediienko says subscribers are flocking to small and mid-sized providers that the state had previously tried to “squeeze” with taxes—moves he effectively calls “sabotage against society.” “But the most interesting part comes next. Let’s analyze where the monopolization of heating and energy leads. In fact, we’re seeing a collapse. And we’re already seeing the consequences,” he adds. He says operators should prepare for a scenario of total power loss. In such conditions, PON networks are the most viable, being less dependent on electricity and large staffing. He concludes that investments should go not into flashy foreign brands but into small and medium-sized businesses—the backbone of stability during war and systemic crises.

DEEP STRIKE IN THE KAPUSTIN YAR!Ukraine used the “Flamingo” cruise missile for the first time at the Kapustin Yar training ground, demonstrating its ability ...