Ukrainian defense forces have likely regained control of the village of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia Region. The place name has become something of a meme, as the occupiers have been reporting attempts to capture the village for over a year, while online sources claim that fighting for it has been ongoing for more than 1,500 days.
This is stated in a report by the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
According to ISW analysts, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to carry out counteroffensive operations and advance southeast and northwest of Orikhiv.
Geolocated footage from May 17 shows that Ukrainian troops recently advanced south of Mala Tokmachka. This is confirmed by a statement from Ukrainian military analyst Kostiantyn Mashovets, who said on May 20 that Ukrainian forces had regained control of Mala Tokmachka.
The Ukrainian Defense Forces neither confirmed nor denied this information.
Photo: ISW.
What is Mala Tokmachka and why is there so much attention on it?
Mala Tokmachka is a small village in the Polohy District of the Zaporizhzhia Region. According to the 2001 census, the village had a population of just over 3,000 people.
In 2022, the advance of russian troops was halted near the village. For many years, the front line has run close to the settlement.
The front line in the Mala Tokmachka area in 2024, 2025, and 2026, according to the DeepState project. Photo: a collage by the Ukrainian News agency.
As early as 2025, Z-channels repeatedly reported on heavy and bloody battles in the Mala Tokmachka area. According to them, russian troops were attempting to dislodge Ukrainian forces from their positions, but they were unable to do so completely.
The fighting turned into a “meme” after a compilation of statements by russian propagandist Boris Rozin appeared online. Over the course of a year, he spoke about the fighting in the Mala Tokmachka area on a russian propaganda talk show.
This video led to the emergence of a series of memes online.
Photo: social media.
Photo: social media.
Photo: social media.
Photo: social media.
Meanwhile, on November 17, 2025, russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov congratulated soldiers of the russian Army’s 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division on the “liberation” of Mala Tokmachka. At the time, he stated that the capture of the village, where several thousand people lived before the war, was a “significant step toward victory and achieving the goals of the SVO (as russian propaganda refers to the war against Ukraine).”
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, earlier today, May 22, Bloomberg reported, citing its own sources, that those close to russian dictator vladimir putin believe the war has reached a stalemate and has no clear path to resolution.
And the day before, the Institute for the Study of War stated that the Ukrainian Defense Forces have achieved their most significant successes on the front lines in recent months since the operation in the Kursk Oblast in August 2024.
As a reminder, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published a report stating that to continue the war, russia will be forced to resort to unpopular measures—mobilization and border closures.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.