Two units of Ukrainian assault troops have liberated the village of Mali Shcherbaky in Zaporizhzhia Oblast from Russian forces, Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi reports. The settlement is located 16 km east of the drained Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnipro River.
Mali Shcherbaky, on the frontline since March 2022 when Russian forces first occupied it, was liberated by Ukrainian forces in May 2022, reoccupied by Russian forces in April 2025, partially held in a gray zone soon after, and fully recaptured by Ukrainian forces on 12 October 2025.
Ukrainian storm troops retake Mali Shcherbaky in coordinated push
Militarnyi says the Ukrainian flag now flies over Mali Shcherbaky after units from the 24th Aidar Battalion and the 33rd Separate Assault Regiment carried out a successful assault in the Zaporizhzhia sector. The press service of the Aidar Battalion confirmed the liberation, stating that the village is now fully under the control of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
Valentyn Manko, head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ assault troops directorate, reported that the success in Mali Shcherbaky was part of a wider advance. He noted on Facebook that Ukrainian forces also cleared the nearby village of Shcherbaky and partially liberated Stepove, extending their gains across a 5-kilometer-wide section of the front line.
Militarnyi notes that storm units moved 3.5 kilometers forward in their offensive across the five-kilometer span of the frontline, reversing earlier Russian territorial gains.
Recent occupation
According to monitoring service DeepState, Russian troops had captured the village of Pyatykhatky and reached the outskirts of Shcherbaky, Mali Shcherbaky, and Stepove in March 2025. This initial push had allowed Russia to advance up to 4 kilometers deep along a 10-kilometer stretch.
Russian forces were later expelled from Shcherbaky by combined efforts of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade and Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR. However, Moscow struck again in July. Due to pressure on the western flank near the village of Kamianske, Russian forces seized Lobkove, Stepove, and part of Mali Shcherbaky.