Update from the Pokrovsk direction:

The battle for Pokrovsk is approaching its end as the parts of the city begin to come under Russian control.

In the northern part of the city, Russian forces established control over new positions in the northernmost residential neighbourhoods, fully establishing themselves along the southern bank of the Hrishynka River. Additionally, they advanced from the area of School no. 14 and the northwestern industrial zone, to the remaining residential streets not yet under Russian control, capturing new positions towards the northern outskirts.

In the northeastern part of Pokrovsk, Russian forces consolidated in the southern part of the high-rise district and operationally encircled the remaining Ukrainian formations in the district. To the southeast, they made additional progress in the low-rise residential areas towards the eastern outskirts of the city, establishing control over most of the rest of the buildings there.

The most important news comes from the bottleneck of the Myrnohrad pocket. After entering the high-rise district and compromising it as a blocking position against attempts to physically cut off Myrnohrad, Russian forces advanced beyond northeastern Pokrovsk, past the cemetery, and to the highway, where they entrenched in the windbreaks. From there, they entered and captured the soft drinks factory and infiltrated into the northwestern part of Rivne.

On the northern end of the bottleneck, the Russians advanced from their positions near the pig farm and reached the high-rise intersection, establishing full control over it and the surrounding positions. They then went on to advance west down the road, where they have reached the next pig farm complex.

Currently, there is a ~1.3 km corridor of open fields and a small, disconnected residential area consisting of two short streets connecting the Myrnohrad pocket with the rest of the front. This area is entirely in the grey zone, and movement in and out of the pocket is now practically impossible. The vast majority of formations still in the pocket will either be killed or captured.

Meanwhile, north of Pokrovsk, Russian forces began counterattacking against the Ukrainian infiltrations in northern Rodynske. They were able to quickly retake the northern low-rise residential area, and begin assaults on the Ukrainian soldiers entrenched in the three-story buildings. Extremely fierce fighting is ongoing here, with both sides making use of extensive fire power. Some Ukrainian soldiers have been encircled, while others still reside in the grey zone.

+ ~4.57 in favour of Russia.

Take with a grain of salt but... Siversk 🟠

Can confirm. They entered from the south around 2 days ago.

Map correction in Pokrovsk:

Some Ukrainian forces remain entrenched in the high-rise buildings of the Dinas District in northeastern Pokrovsk. They are effectively cut off from the rest of the Myrnohrad pocket.

Scenes from the Dinas District of Pokrovsk. Russian soldiers are currently clearing it.

It is widely considered to be the last Ukrainian stronghold in the city.

Ukraine could do the funniest thing...

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts these last couple of days. I've been very busy with irl stuff, as well as some other interesting things you'll see soon 👀

I probably won't return to posting at my usual rates until this weekend, but I'll publish some map updates shortly.

One thing I've found interesting about Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad is how intact the city infrastructure is. You'd think that for such an intense and long battle, both cities would be destroyed at a Bakhmut level, or even Vovchansk or Marinka levels.

Interestingly, most buildings in both cities remain intact for civilians. Damage is obviously extensive, but if you look at some of the videos from the ground, there are still curtains and roofs on houses, with damage being limited to broken windows and damaged roofs.

However, this is for the low-rise buildings. Obviously, the high-rise blocks have largely been burnt out or partially collapsed. Myrnohrad has more high-rises, so naturally it received more damage than Pokrovsk.

But nevertheless, if you compare it to cities that also experienced large, prolonged battles, it is less than usual. It reminds me somewhat of Selydove.

🇲🇱 - Current situation in Bamako, the capital of Mali:

JNIM have begun an active blockade of the city, while their attacks on fuel supplies have become popular, the group have also struck convoys of almost all goods and supplies going heading to the capital.

Several countries have advised their citizens to leave the country immediately, including the United States.

Rerum Novarum's map shows the 8 different routes into Bamako:
- Four routes are (partially) under JNIM control, RN5, RN7, RN27 and RN3.
- Three routes are contested, RN24, RR6 and RN6.
- Mali has a single reliable supply route, the RN26 highway.

Also another thing to consider with this is that there are less Ukrainian soldiers to target nowadays, so that would contribute to less damaged buildings.

The Ukrainian SSO claims that it struck a transport-loading vehicle for Iskander-M ballistic missiles near the village of Ovsyannikovo, Kursk Oblast, likely with UAVs, on October 4.

I can confirm that transportation and loading of Iskander-M and Iskander-K missiles were taking place in this area of Kursk Oblast at around this date. The claims remain unconfirmed, but they line up with what was happening.

Additionally, they reported that they hit and destroyed a 1L122 "Garmon" radar station on duty near the village of Nizhniy Reutets, Kursk Oblast.

Yesterday, at least 1 Tu-95MS strategic bomber redeployed from Ukrainka Airbase, Amur Oblast, back to Engels-2 Airbase, Saratov Oblast, after it was equipped with Kh-101 cruise missiles. The true number of Tu-95MS that redeployed is unknown, but we should find out in the next 1-3 days.

Additionally, 1 Tu-95MS carried out a training mission from Engels-2 Airbase yesterday afternoon, where it carried out simulated launches of missiles with electronic warfare from the old launch lines, which are no longer used, over Guryanovo Training Ground, Saratov Oblast (the new launch lines are slightly further southwest near the village of Uzmore).

Interestingly, this Tu-95MS from Engels-2 has not been known to conduct simulated launches of missiles over the past few months, and has only carried out ordinary, scheduled training missions, often for younger pilots. This could signal an imminent return to combat duty, alongside the other strategic bombers currently at Ukrainka Airbase.

Vovchansk looks like it's finally being cleaned up.

Russia controls nearly two thirds of the city and has advanced past most of the flattened areas which are much harder to hold. Also, Ukraine has lost most of their strongholds in the city and is currently in constant retreat.

Some more about Stepnohirsk.
Russian forces report that Ukrainian UAV numbers have increased, which severely complicates their advancements in the area.
According to some of their estimates, we're talking of about 120 crews, with some belonging to the National Guard and GUR. They provide recon, strikes on Russian forward groups and logistics control.
GUR operators specifically have "RAM-2X" drones, and other UAV battalions have "Rubak" and "Shark" recon drones.
As reported some time ago, these drones are being used en masse at distances of over 60km, easily reaching Vasylivka, primary Russian supply hub in the area.