Military personnel from Dagestan, North Ossetia and Storm unit deployed in Melitopol, replacing Wagner — Melitopol mayor 

Mayor Ivan Fedorov reports this.

It is reported that the Ukrainian Defense Forces are moving forward and defeating the enemy in the Zaporizhzhia direction. At the same time, the Russians are sending troops and heavy equipment through the temporarily occupied cities of Melitopol and Mariupol.

“People in Melitopol saw an SUV in the city with the inscription "Storm," which belongs to a new unit of the Russian Ministry of Defense. This new unit has replaced the Wagner fighters, who lost Putin’s favor. The number of occupiers from Dagestan and North Ossetia has increased in the city,” the mayor stated. 

Russian combat helicopters are flying at low altitudes over the beaches of Kyrylivka and Berdyansk.

“Although the Russians want to send their soldiers to the front as "cannon fodder," it is believed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have the capability to push back this low-quality force and send them back to Russia,” he added. 

• On July 1, it was noted that new units of the Russian army were arriving in temporarily occupied Melitopol and Henichesk, while enemy equipment was being transported towards the Zaporizhzhia region.

• However, on July 2, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were making progress in the Melitopol and Berdyansk areas, with intense fighting.

• As of July 3, the mayor mentioned that about 60,000 to 70,000 civilians still remain in temporarily occupied Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, while the number of Russian soldiers in the city exceeds this civilian population.