Russia has moved substantial forces toward the Zaporizhzhia axis of southern Ukraine, signaling what Ukrainian officials say could be the largest offensive in the sector since the start of the year. Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the former mayor of Mariupol, said intelligence showed at least seven rail platforms loaded with armored vehicles, including tanks, and more than 40 trucks carrying troops and ammunition arriving near the front late last week. Andriushchenko added that a further 15 trucks carrying Chechen units were sighted heading toward Enerhodar, Melitopol and Vasylivka, reinforcing what Kyiv describes as an effort to punch through Ukrainian lines protecting the land corridor linking occupied Crimea with the Donbas region. On 5 July, battlefield reports indicated Russian artillery bombardments and ground assaults had begun around Kamenskoye, Shcherbaki and Stepovoye, settlements northwest of Russian-occupied Tokmak. Ukrainian sources said positional fighting continued but warned of intensifying pressure along the entire Zaporizhzhia front. The southern buildup coincides with broader Russian advances in eastern Ukraine. The independent monitoring project DeepState said Russian troops captured the villages of Zelenyi Kut and Novoukrainka in Donetsk Oblast, close to the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast—a region that has been largely spared ground incursions since 2022. Ukraine’s General Staff has not confirmed the loss of the two villages but acknowledged heavier fighting across multiple axes, including Kharkiv, Seversk, Liman and Pokrovsk. Military analysts say the concentration of armor and personnel near Zaporizhzhia could presage a concerted push to sever Ukrainian supply routes and stretch Kyiv’s already thin defensive reserves.