Ukrainian military units have established control over the settlement of Zelenyi Hai [eng: Green grove] in Donetsk Oblast, with the victory announced on Ukraine’s National Flag Day, marking both a tactical achievement and symbolic moment amid broader Russian pressure across the eastern front.

The operational-strategic group of forces “Dnipro” confirmed that fighters from the 37th separate marine infantry brigade, working alongside the 214th separate assault battalion OPFOR, successfully halted the advance of Russian forces in the area.

However, the operational-strategic group “Dnipro” warned that Russian forces are mounting efforts to retake Zelenyi Hai while simultaneously attempting to occupy additional settlements throughout this sector of Donetsk Oblast.

At the beginning of August, Russian forces entered Zelenyi Hai, photographing themselves alongside Russian flags within the settlement, according to the analytical project DeepState.

However, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense subsequently reported that Ukrainian special forces eliminated the Russian group that had penetrated the settlement. Despite this operation, DeepState mapping data from 22 August indicated Russian forces maintained control over approximately half of Zelenyi Hai.

Defense forces also recently secured control over most of the nearby village of Tovste, where Ukrainian soldiers raised the national flag.

Russian advances in Donetsk Oblast

The Zelenyi Hai operation occurs against a backdrop of intensifying Russian attacks across Donetsk region.

Recent Russian advances north of Pokrovsk saw enemy forces break through up to 17 kilometers, seizing positions that threaten Ukrainian supply lines.

A separate Russian push near Dobropillia reached the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway, a critical route for military logistics.

These tactical gains have prompted regional authorities to expand mandatory evacuation zones. Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, announced on 14 August that five settlements must evacuate approximately 1,879 children due to relentless Russian bombardment of around 3,000 strikes daily.

The Institute for the Study of War identified a “fortress belt,” the primary fortified defensive line established following 2014 military operations, as one of the strategically important Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast that Russian forces continue to approach and attempt to envelop it.

It stretches 50 kilometers from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the north to Druzhkivka and Kostyantynivka in the south.

According to the ISW, Ukraine has invested 11 years in strengthening these positions, building “significant defense industrial and defensive infrastructure in and around these cities.”

The institute warned that territorial concessions, pushed by Russia in recent peace negotiations with the US, would “position Russian forces extremely well to renew their attacks on much more favorable terms,” allowing them to bypass costly urban warfare while gaining operational advantages.