# Ukraine Retakes Komar and Stepy, Opens New Pressure Points on Russian Positions in Donetsk and Kharkiv

*Saturday, November 14, 2026 at 8:06 AM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-11-14T08:06:01.563Z (59m ago)
**Category**: conflict | **Region**: Eastern Europe
**Importance**: 7/10
**Sources**: https://t.me/militarysummary/32854 | https://t.me/militarysummary/32853 | https://t.me/operativnoZSU/226100 | https://t.me/operativnoZSU/226099 | https://t.me/operativnoZSU/226098
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/23446.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: Ukrainian forces have recaptured the town of Komar in Donetsk region after roughly three months of fighting and the village of Stepy in Kharkiv region’s Borova sector in under ten days, according to battlefield updates. The advances, though small on the map, reshape local lines and support Ukrainian activity near Vovchansk.

Ukrainian troops have taken back two settlements from Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, regaining the town of Komar in Donetsk Oblast and the village of Stepy in Kharkiv Oblast.

According to updated Ukrainian mapping and reports, Komar, in Donetsk’s Volnovakha District, was recaptured after a second battle that lasted about three months. Before the war it had a population of roughly 1,710 people and covered around 3.67 square kilometers. The second battle for Stepy, in the Borova direction of Kharkiv’s Izium District, lasted less than 10 days; the village had a pre‑war population of about 790 and a land area of roughly 1.64 square kilometers.

Control of these localities affects both the people who once lived there and the units now holding them. For displaced residents, a change of control determines under which authorities their homes now fall and whether there is any prospect of returning once front lines move farther away and mines are cleared. For Ukrainian forces, the regained ground offers better defensive positions and reduces the immediate risk that Russian troops will use these settlements as launchpads for further advances.

Ukrainian sources describe Komar as part of a broader “Komar direction” of operations, which connects to the Bahatyr direction and the Velyka Novosilka direction. Those axes have seen prolonged fighting as Ukraine looks for opportunities to unsettle Russian defensive belts in this part of Donetsk.

In Kharkiv Oblast, Stepy’s recapture aligns with Ukrainian efforts to stabilize and then push back Russian positions along the region’s northeast. Separately from the fight for Stepy, Ukrainian forces operating from the recently recaptured town of Vilcha have conducted sabotage and reconnaissance raids in the Vovchansk direction in recent days. Reported Ukrainian activity includes forested areas northeast of Synelnykove and nearby residential streets on the western and southwestern edges of Vovchansk, suggesting focused efforts to probe Russian defenses and gather intelligence rather than a direct attempt to seize the town.

These moves are incremental and local rather than sweeping. Each retaken settlement alters supply routes and firing lines, and together they signal that Ukrainian forces continue to look for openings along the front.

The next questions are whether Ukraine can consolidate and fortify its positions in Komar and Stepy against Russian counter‑attacks, and whether the regained terrain in Donetsk and Kharkiv leads to further advances toward Bahatyr, Velyka Novosilka or deeper into the Vovchansk sector. Russian artillery and air activity around these areas in the coming days will be an early indicator of how strongly Moscow intends to contest the new Ukrainian lines.