UK Defense Ministry describes critical situation for Russian army in Bakhmut

This is stated in a July 8 review by the UK Defense Ministry.

After a lull in June, over the past seven days, Bakhmut has once again become the scene of some of the most intense fighting on the frontline, with Ukrainian troops steadily advancing both north and south of the city.

“Russian forces are highly likely struggling with poor morale, a mix of disparate units and a limited ability to find and strike Ukrainian artillery,” the analysts say. 

In addition, the military analysts point out that Moscow apparently considers it politically unacceptable to surrender Bakhmut to Ukrainian forces, a city that has symbolic value as one of the few achievements of Russian forces in the last year of the war.

“However, there are highly likely few additional reserves to commit to the sector,” the ministry added. 

Bakhmut in the Donetsk region was the site of one of the fiercest confrontations between Ukrainian and Russian forces until the Russian side announced this May that it had allegedly captured the city.

What is known about the Ukrainian 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 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 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.