Ukraine's Armed Forces have all prerequisites to push Russians out of dominant heights around Bakhmut — military expert Zgurets 

He spoke about this on Espreso TV.

"The narrative created by the Russians about the 'victory bubble' and the distribution of medals with the label 'Bakhmut meat grinder' has only left us with the actual 'Bakhmut meat grinder,' which is now being transferred to Russian units stationed in the city itself. They are attempting to hold the surrounding areas, including dominant positions to the north and south. The enemy is indeed reinforcing these positions. In the north, they have had some success in Berkhivka, repelling our advances, and now they are sending their reserves there to maintain control over those dominant heights. If we manage to dislodge the Russians from those positions, it will open up new directions for us around Bakhmut," stated the military expert.

Serhiy Zgurets pointed out that the situation to the south of the city is critical for Russians.

"Near Andriivka, located between Klishchiivka and Kurdiumivka, the Ukrainian artillery is active. If we drive out Russian troops from Andriivka, it creates conditions for encircling Klishchiivka, which is another dominant enemy position. By striking Andriivka from the south, we lay the groundwork for pushing the occupiers out of Klishchiivka, significantly improving the situation to the south of Bakhmut in our favor. There is a road along the Klishchiyivka-Andriyivka-Kurdyumivka line that supports the enemy group, but our actions may disable it. That's why the enemy is trying to deploy maximum reserves to these areas. I believe that it will remain intense there for some time. However, the overall picture suggests that all the necessary conditions exist for displacing the enemy from strategically important areas. In the end, Russian forces inside Bakhmut will find themselves in the trap that General Syrskyi spoke about. But achieving this will require additional efforts. I reiterate, there are positive prerequisites for such a scenario to unfold," summarized Zgurets.

What we know 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 in the Belgorod region.

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.

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 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. Also the Ukrainian Armed Forces had de-occupied the village of Rivnopil, Donetsk region.

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace stated that Ukraine has already liberated more territory as part of the summer counteroffensive campaign than Russia had captured during the entire winter offensive.

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.

Experts from the Institute for the Study of War believe that Russian forces are likely deploying additional troops to the Bakhmut area from other directions in response to Ukrainian offensive operations in the region.

On July 2nd, spokesperson for the Eastern Military Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Cherevaty, stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are advancing on the southern and northern flanks of Bakhmut, making progress.