Ukrainian troops primarily conduct reconnaissance by combat in south - military expert Kovalenko

Military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko said this on Espreso TV. 

“I would not call it an offensive in general. It's not quite like that. What we are seeing is primarily combat reconnaissance, operational reconnaissance, and deep reconnaissance. This is not a full-fledged use of the forces that are now assembled for the main attack. This irritates the Russian command. Almost all the actions in the south are taking place in the so-called supply line. This is actually the first defense line of the three that the occupying Russian forces have built. This strip is the most saturated with minefields. Among other things, there are also a large number of 'secrets', each of which should have an anti-tank missile system,” he said.

Kovalenko added that this area should slow down the offensive.

“Combat reconnaissance is needed to identify previously undetected artillery positions, munitions depots, command and control points. It is also used to probe the first line and find weaknesses. The Ukrainian Defense Forces coped with all of this. In order to stop the Ukrainian Armed Forces' actions in the supply line, the Russians first blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station to prevent the forcing and landing of the troops on the left bank. Then, in the Zaporizhzhia direction, they pulled back reserves from the second and third lines of defense to ensure defensive actions in the supply line. This is not right. The Russians blow up their 127th Division and send it to hold the line. Although its functionality is second-line defense. All this demonstrates that Russia is now using reserves to stop the activation of the Defense Forces, and we have not yet used our main resources,” the expert concluded.

• Soldiers with the 68th Detached Oleksa Dovbush Ranger Brigade, together with neighboring units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, announced the liberation of Blahodatne and Neskuchne on Sunday, June 11. Subsequently, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar added Makarivka to the list of liberated villages of the Velyka Novosilka community. These settlements are located near the administrative border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

• On June 13, the Russian army attempted to regain control of the de-occupied village of Makarivka, Donetsk region, near the administrative border of the Zaporizhzhia region.

• As of the morning of June 14, a representative of the AFU General Staff, Andriy Kovalov, emphasized that active hostilities continued in the areas of Makarivka, Novodanylivka and Novopokrovka in the Berdiansk sector.