Victorious news on 497th day of war: Ukrainian soldiers recapture number of territories near Bakhmut, second Kadyrov’s associate gets fatal injury in Ukraine 

Ukrainian Armed Forces report success on the outskirts of Bakhmut

On Wednesday, July 5, the Commander of the Land Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has announced successes on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut

Oleksandr Syrskyi shared the information on Telegram.

"Bakhmut direction. The Defense Forces are making progress. The assault units of the 10th Edelweiss Brigade are storming the Russian positions on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut. A number of territories were recaptured and a significant amount of enemy manpower was destroyed. Glory to the Ukrainian soldiers," wrote the commander of the Land Forces.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also confirmed the success of the Ukrainian defenders in the Bakhmut sector.

"In the Bakhmut sector, our defenders successfully repelled enemy attacks in the areas south of Berkhivka and Bohdanivka in Donetsk region. At the same time, the Ukrainian military continues to conduct offensive operations south and north of the city of Bakhmut, consolidating their positions," the General Staff said in a nightly update.

In southern Ukraine, the most difficult line of the Russian army’s defense has been broken through in some places

In the south, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already broken through the first, or most difficult, line of defense of the Russian army in some areas. Military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko told Espreso about this.

"What is the first line of defense? This is the supply line - it is the most difficult area of the entire defense. There are maximum minefields there, which hinders the advance of enemy forces. There are also a large number of "secrets" with anti-tank missile systems and trenches. This area is within the range of fire of all artillery potential that is already deployed along the second and partially along the third line of defense," he said.

According to Kovalenko, the first line is the most dangerous part of the entire defense, which aims to slow down, and at best, stop the enemy's advance.

"After the supply line, the main (second) line of defense begins. The main resources (armored personnel carriers, tanks, armored personnel carriers, armored personnel carriers and artillery) and units are concentrated there. The third line of defense is actually the rear line - electronic warfare systems, command posts, control points, headquarters, warehouses, and support facilities are located there. There are also anti-aircraft missile systems that cover the first and second lines from the air. In some areas in the south, the supply line has already been crossed and there is already access to the main line of defense. We have actually broken the entire second line of defense, found the positions of their artillery, air defense systems in the third line of defense, all logistics and warehouses," the expert added

Ukraine increases natural gas production

State-owned Ukrgazvydobuvannya company has launched three gas wells. Two of them are new, and the third one has been overhauled.

According to Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshev, the new wells were drilled at an old field. This became possible due to an in-depth analysis of the development and the use of a 3D model. The company successfully launched 10 new wells at the field, and their daily production exceeded 3 million cubic meters.

Another well that underwent a workover has been producing at the field for almost 30 years. Before the workover, gas production from it was insignificant, but after it was transferred to a higher horizon, the well increased production tenfold.

"In the first half of 2023, our company has already commissioned 11 high-performance wells with a production rate of more than 100,000 cubic meters per day each. Four of them produce more than 300,000 cubic meters per day," the statement said.

Former representative of Ramzan Kadyrov, who was wounded in Ukraine, dies

A former representative of Ramzan Kadyrov, a platoon commander of the security forces in the Chechen unit Akhmat, has died.

According to the Cheka-OGPU Telegram channel, Kadyrov's representative in the Northwestern Federal District, Islam Khizriyev, died as a result of a serious injury sustained in Ukraine. In 2021, Khizriyev was detained for drug possession, and in order to avoid imprisonment, he went to fight in Ukraine.

According to unverified reports, Khizriyev died on 3 July. It was then that information about the death of the commander of the Akhmat special forces unit of the Russian Guard, Yevgeny Pisarenko, was reported.

Ukrainian IT army blocks the operation of Russian Railways online services

On July 5, the Ukrainian cyber army blocked the operation of Russian Railways' online services. This made it impossible to purchase train tickets via the Russian Railways mobile app and website.

According to Russian media, the technical failure also caused problems with purchasing tickets at railway ticket offices.