Espreso Global Military news In some areas, Ukraine’s forces cut through Russia's first line of defense

In some areas, Ukraine’s forces cut through Russia's first line of defense

4 August, 2023 Friday

22:27

Ukrainian troops continue to advance in the south and in some places have broken through the first line of defense and are now moving to the intermediate line

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Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said this during the telethon.

"Our troops in the south have already broken through the first line of defense in some places and moved to the intermediate line. And there they are facing the fact that the enemy has actually created concrete engineering fortifications on the main, key heights. This, of course, complicates the movement of our troops and the fighting itself," said Maliar.

She also noted that in the south and east of the country, the occupying Russian forces are pulling up their reserves.

"Mostly professional units are being deployed now. That is, we are seeing their airborne assault units in the east and south, which are actually thrown into battle both there and there," the deputy minister added.

Ukraine's counteroffensive

On June 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a counteroffensive on the southern frontline, continuing a series of offensives near Bakhmut and in other directions.
On June 11, the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced the liberation of Blahodatne, Neskuchne, and Makarivka settlements, near the border of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
On the morning of June 12, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that the Ukrainian state flag was raised again over Storozhove, Donetsk region.
She said that over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had liberated 7 settlements and advanced 6.5 kilometers.
On June 19, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that Russian troops were attacking in Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka directions. Despite the losses, Russian troops are trying to advance, but are not successful.
Also, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated Pyatykhatky, Zaporizhzhia region, and advanced up to 7 km in the Tavria direction.
On June 20, the General Staff reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were consolidating their positions in the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions, while particularly heavy fighting was taking place in the Lyman direction.
On June 24, the Ukrainian Defense Forces officially confirmed the liberation of the territories near Krasnohorivka in the Donetsk region, which had been under occupation since 2014.
On June 24, the eastern grouping of Ukrainian troops launched an offensive in several other areas simultaneously.
On June 25, the General Staff reported that the enemy was attacking in the Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka directions. There were 29 combat engagements on the frontline over the day.
On June 26, Hanna Maliar reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have advanced 1 to 2 kilometers on the eastern frontline in the past week. During the offensive in the southern direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated 130 square kilometers.
On June 26, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had de-occupied the village of Rivnopil, Donetsk region. It is located in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. The Russian army occupied the village in March 2022.
But Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that the already liberated settlements were not the "main event" but rather the prelude to a major counteroffensive.
Specialists of the Institute for the Study of War believe that the Russian military is likely to bring additional forces to Bakhmut from other directions in response to Ukrainian offensive operations in the area.
On the morning of July 3, Hanna Maliar reported that the Defense Forces advanced in the southern and eastern directions. Over the past week, the Ukrainian military liberated about 38 square kilometers. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are advancing on the flanks and effectively destroying the Russians in the Bakhmut direction, but the situation is intense.
On July 4, it was reported that Ukrainian military forces were advancing on the southern flank around Bakhmut in Donetsk region and in the south.
On the morning of July 5, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Ukrainian Defence Forces were continuing their offensive in the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions, consolidating their positions, inflicting artillery fire on the identified enemy targets, and carrying out counter-battery operations.

On July 5, Captain Valeriy Shershen, a spokesman for the joint press center of the Tavria Defense Forces, said that the Ukrainian servicemen in the south were holding their positions, conducting mine clearance, regrouping and preparing for further offensive actions.
On the morning of July 5, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Ukrainian Defence Forces were continuing their offensive in the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions, consolidating their positions, inflicting artillery fire on the identified enemy targets, and carrying out counter-battery operations.
On July 6, the Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced and consolidated their positions in three areas - Bakhmut, Melitopol and Berdiansk - while the Ukrainian forces continued to hold the line in Kupyansk.
On July 7, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported that the Defense Forces were advancing on the flanks of Bakhmut and grinding the enemy to a halt in the south, with the ratio of Russian army losses being more than five times higher.
Also on Saturday, July 8, it was reported that the Ukrainian military had achieved tactically significant gains in the area of Bakhmut. At the same time, Ukrainian forces continued their counteroffensive in at least three other areas of the front.
On July 9, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Land Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said that Ukrainian troops continue to advance in the Bakhmut direction, and that Russian forces are getting trapped in some places.
Later, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said that the Chechen special forces Akhmat had been redeployed to the Bakhmut direction: the Kadyrov soldiers were allegedly in Klishchiivka.
On July 10, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, emphasized that Bakhmut was under the fire control of the Defense Forces. The General Staff emphasized that since the beginning of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had liberated 169 km² of Ukrainian land in the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions, an area commensurate with the size of Odesa. In the Bakhmut sector, the Defense Forces have recovered 24 km² of Ukrainian territory.
On July 12, the General Staff reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had hit the Duna hotel in Berdiansk, as previously reported. Russians were taking away the bodies of the killed soldiers by truck. Ukrainian aviation launched 6 strikes on the Russian forces' military positions and 2 on enemy air defense systems. Over the course of the day, missile and artillery units destroyed 1 control center, 16 artillery pieces at firing positions, 4 anti-aircraft missile systems and 2 enemy electronic warfare stations.
According to the General Staff on July 13, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to conduct offensive operations on three frontlines - Bakhmut, Melitopol, and Berdiansk. At the same time, the Russian army is using reserves and moving its troops.
On July 14, it was reported that the Defense Forces in the Melitopol direction had advanced 1,700 m to the south and southeast in a week.
On July 14, Maliar announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were advancing on the southern flank of the Bakhmut direction.
On July 15, The New York Times reported that the AFU had changed its counteroffensive tactics, focusing on attacking depleted Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles rather than attacking minefields.
The Defense Ministry reported that as of July 17, since the beginning of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive in the Bakhmut sector, the military had liberated an area of more than 30 km². In the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions, almost 180 km² of Ukrainian land remains de-occupied.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, July 23, that the Defense Forces have recaptured half of the territory that Russia has occupied since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
On July 25, the ISW stated that Ukraine's counteroffensive would not be fast and easy.
On July 25, the Ukrainian Defense Forces drove the Russians out of their positions near Andriivka in the Bakhmut direction, and in the Staromayorske area, they succeeded and are consolidating their positions. The Ukrainian Armed Forces restrained the Russian offensive near Marinka and repelled enemy attacks in other areas.
On July 26, the General Staff reported that the Defense Forces continued to advance in three directions. Instead, the Russian occupiers are trying to regain the lost position near Robotyno in Zaporizhzhia region. Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said that the Defense Forces continue to successfully conduct offensive actions on the southern flank around Bakhmut. Fierce fighting continues in the area of Klishchiiivka, Kurdyumivka and Andriivka.
US officials said on July 26 that Ukraine told them that the army is now engaged in a major counteroffensive, moving more troops and equipment to the most western of the three fronts, near Zaporizhzhia.
The Institute for the Study of War reported that on July 26, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a mechanized counteroffensive operation in Zaporizhzhia region and may have broken through enemy defensive positions near Orikhiv.
On July 27, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled several enemy attacks in the Kupyansk sector without losing ground, and in the Bakhmut sector our soldiers gradually moved forward. The fighting was quite fierce. The enemy was firing intensively. The General Staff reported that the Defense Forces were conducting an offensive at the Melitopol and Berdiansk directions.
On the same day, it became known that Ukrainian soldiers had liberated the village of Staromayorske in Donetsk region.
On July 31, it was reported that during the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian military liberated more than 204 square kilometers of territory in the south, and another 37 square kilometers in the Bakhmut direction.
On August 2, it was reported that the Russian occupiers are trying to reclaim their lost grounds in the Donetsk region, namely in the Bakhmut and Shakhtarsk directions.
The New York Times analysts reported that Russian forces are overstretched, experiencing problems with logistics, supplies, personnel and weapons, and it is becoming noticeable that they are beginning to retreat.
On the frontline, 44 combat engagements took place between the Ukrainian Defense Forces and Russian troops on August 2. Russian forces were trying to regain lost ground in the Bakhmut and Shakhtarsk directions.