Review of combat actions for the period June 14-20: counter-offensive to destroy enemy reserves – Espresso
“The counteroffensive on the southern front, in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk region synchronized with the active actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and intriguing reports are coming from the left bank of Kherson region,” Espresso reports.
Counteroffensive in the South of Ukraine
During the two weeks of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to penetrate the enemy’s defense from 1 to 9 kilometers along the entire length of the 200-kilometer front.
At this stage, the main strategy of the General Staff was to lure out and destroy the occupiers’ manpower, as well as their artillery and air defense. In which our defenders have achieved considerable success. By advancing and maneuvering in many places on the frontline, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are forcing the racists to constantly attract and burn additional resources, conducting unsuccessful counteroffensives. They cannot just sit in the trenches and defend themselves, because such a tactic will lead to their defeat, given the accuracy of Western weapons.
Our troops carefully plan each attack, taking their time and not going for a frontal assault. This tactic has led to the fact that, when attacking, the Armed Forces suffer losses in the ratio of 1 to 9 in our favor, although usually the offensive side loses significantly more than the defenders.
In the Vasylivka sector, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to break through the defense by 2 km and de-occupy the village of Pyatikhatky. At the same time, the Russians made at least two attempts to bring this line of defense back under their control. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continue to storm the following villages: Zherebianky and Luhove, which opens the road to Vasylivka, an important center of occupation defense. And those racists who still remain in the southern part of Kamianske will be forced to flee in order not to be surrounded.
In the Orikhiv direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have reached halfway to the village of Robotyne, and are also advancing on the village of Verbove to penetrate the right flank of the racists who are entrenched in Pologi. Other UAF forces are trying to break through from the left flank of Pologi in the direction of Dorozhnyanka and Novozlatopol.
In the area of the so-called Vremivsk bulge, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to make their way from the west and east toward the key defense and logistics point of Staromlynivka. The western wing of the offensive is moving from Novodarivka to Pryiutne, while the eastern wing is fighting in the area of Urozhayne and Staromayorsk and is moving towards Kermenchyk. In addition, the Russian Armed Forces also made several unsuccessful attempts to counterattack in this area of the front.
The most interesting situation is developing in the Volnovakha sector. On the one hand, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are fighting somewhere near the village of Blahodatne, 12 kilometers from Volnovakha. On the other hand, the racists are trying to attack Vuhledar from Mykilske to disrupt our plans.
Today, following the success of the Ukrainian army, the Russian armed forces have launched a second wave of counterattacks to stop the Ukrainian offensive and push back our soldiers in the places where the first line of defense was broken.
However, as the situation shows, the occupiers lack the equipment to cover their offensive. They compensate for the lack of destroyed artillery with expensive helicopters, which we are increasingly shooting down. For example, in the spring, the Armed Forces landed 10 helicopters, and in the last 2 weeks – 8. This proves that Russia’s resources are melting away and the time is not far off when they will have to leave the territory to optimize their defenses.
The Battle of Bakhmut
The battle for the city has been in reverse for over a month now. Now the invaders are defending themselves in the ruined neighborhoods of the once flourishing city, and the Defense Forces are trying to surround them. On the southern side, the Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced by several hundred meters every day and in some areas approached Klishchiyivka to a distance of one and a half kilometers. The most successful progress is between Bakhmut and Klishchiyivka. At the same time, our troops are trying to push further south, storming the outskirts of Kurdyumivka and Ozaryanivka.
To the north of the fortress city, our offensive is carried out on a wider front. In addition to Berkhivka, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began attacking in the direction of Yahidne, and continue to drive the Nazis from their positions on the peaks near Orikhovo Vasylivka. Another unpleasant surprise for the occupiers was the opening of a new direction for the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive, from Rozdolivka to Krasnopolivka, which will allow them to approach the northern outskirts of Soledar in the future.
In Bakhmut itself, the Defense Forces not only held the southwestern gate to the city, the so-called “airplane” area, but also managed to expand the territory under their control.
The outskirts of Donetsk
The events on the southern front and near Bakhmut have significantly shaken the Russian defense, which is now in a state of constant search for additional resources. This allows the Ukrainian Armed Forces to de-occupy the land from which they had to retreat until recently. In particular, to the north of Avdiivka, the Defense Forces conducted a successful offensive in the area of Vesele village, breaking through the occupiers’ defense for several kilometers.
In the area of Maryinka, on the contrary, the Russian Armed Forces managed to advance several hundred meters in the central and southwestern parts of the town. The Russian offensive on the village of Pobeda did not lead to any changes at the front.
Kherson region and shelling of the rear
By blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and flooding the Left Bank of the Kherson region, the occupiers took the lion’s share of the troops to deter the Ukrainian army’s offensive in Zaporizhzhia. They withdrew the remaining forces 15-20 kilometers from the Dnipro. So our defenders have an operational space that can also be used for a counteroffensive. The Russians know this and are afraid. There are already numerous reports of subversive groups of 20-30 servicemen from the Special Operations Forces crossing the Dnipro River by boat.
Sources from the General Staff report a significant increase in artillery fire on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. In general, the occupiers cannot hide anywhere in southern Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have the capabilities to find and destroy any accumulation of enemy manpower or equipment. During the week, they destroyed 10 ammunition depots, as well as 20 command posts, headquarters and bases. In the Kherson region, it arrived in Kakhovka, Skadovsk, Lazurne, as well as in the land corridor from Crimea, in particular in Henichesk, and a large warehouse in the nearby village of Rykovo. In Zaporizhzhia, massive shelling is taking place along the entire contact line in the Polohivskyi, Vasylivskyi, Melitopol, Berdiansk districts and in Tokmak. In Donetsk region, the priority was given to the Volnovakha area, as well as Donetsk, Horlivka and Bakhmut.
Russians strike back in Luhansk region
The Russian headquarters decided to launch a cunning plan – to launch a broad frontal offensive in Luhansk region to draw away some of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reserves and thus disrupt the Ukrainian Defense Forces offensive in southern Ukraine. The Russian armed forces intensified their offensive in the direction of Kupyansk, Bilohorivka, Serebryanske forestry, from Svatove to Novoselivske, and from Kreminna to Torske and Zarichne.
Despite the occupiers’ widespread offensive, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to improve the tactical situation during an attack from Bilohorivka toward Shypylivka.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already reinforced their troops in the Luhansk region, so they are holding the line and destroying the occupiers with powerful shelling of their rear. For example, our artillery recently struck near Kreminna, where Kadyrov’s men were lined up on the parade ground to listen to their general’s motivational speech. As a result, several hundred people were killed and wounded. Cotton also visited Luhansk several times this week, as well as Kadiyivka, Alchevsk and Kreminna itself.
The maps were created based on information received from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as other open and verified sources. At the same time, the maps are not as accurate as possible and only conditionally reflect trends in the combat zone.
