Within the final week of July, Russia launched its largest assault in eight months in japanese Ukraine’s Donetsk area, seizing a sequence of settlements in an obvious effort to chop off key provide routes and drive an enormous Ukrainian retreat.
In the meantime, Ukraine has carried out quite a few strikes in opposition to Russian power infrastructure and seized Crimea, suggesting its technique of weakening Russian air defenses is working.
Russia’s assaults are concentrated in central and southern Donetsk – from the world west of Bakhmut, which fell final Might, to the world west of Avdievka, which fell in February, to Donetsk, which is already occupied by pro-Moscow separatists. The realm west of Tsk Metropolis.
Russian forces exerted superiority in these areas to stop Ukraine from digging sturdy defenses, and for months they’ve been slowly advancing, gobbling up settlements at staggering price to Russian forces.
British navy intelligence estimates that Russian casualties hit a report excessive of round 1,200 in Might and June – some 70,000 troops in these two months alone. Al Jazeera was unable to confirm these claims.
The tempo of Russia’s push westward has accelerated prior to now week, together with two battalion-sized assaults, which Washington-based suppose tank the Institute for Conflict (ISW) stated had not been launched since final yr’s battle of Avdivka. Sub-battalion degree assault.
Russia’s technique seems to be to chop off two highways – one supplying Ukrainian troops in Vukhledar, south of Donetsk, and the opposite at Chasiv Yar and Toletsk in central Donetsk. The garrison supplied provides.
Russia’s ‘attainable burden’
On July 24, Russia launched a battalion-level assault southwest of Donetsk metropolis, involving 200 troopers and supported by 11 tanks, 45 armored combating automobiles and 12 bikes. The obvious goal is to grab the T-0524 freeway that provides Vuhledar. Ukrainian troops stopped it, destroying six Dykes, seven armored automobiles and all 12 bikes.
Then on Monday, Russia tried once more, launching one other battalion-sized assault in the identical space, this time involving 10 tanks, 47 armored automobiles, 10 bikes and an off-road car. Ukraine halted the assault once more, hitting eight tanks, a dozen armored automobiles and 9 bikes, in addition to an off-road car.
ISW stated: “The willingness of the Russian navy command to just accept expensive armored car losses with out conducting a large-scale, multi-faceted offensive operation in western Donetsk Oblast or making important operational advances may create long-term penalties for the Russian navy. burden.
Different Russian assaults did reach capturing territory.
On Friday, Russian troops captured the villages of Prohres, Yasnobrodivka and Lozuvatske, that are inside 15 kilometers (9 miles) of one another. Lengthen a salient to the west of Avdievka. This positioned them inside 7 km (4 mi) of the T-0504 freeway, which stretched from Pokrovsk to the garrisons of Chasiv Yar and Toletsk.
“If the Ukrainian armed forces are unable to stabilize the scenario, Russian troops throughout giant areas of the entrance line could possibly attain the Pokrovsk-Kostyandinivka freeway – Ukraine’s foremost provide route. [Ukrainian troops] “In Chasiv Yar and Toletsk – inside a couple of weeks,” wrote Meduza, an impartial Russian newspaper banned by Moscow.
Russia has made progress elsewhere, too.
Russian troops on Friday recaptured the city of Robotin within the southern Zaporozhye area, which Ukraine fought to retake in a 2023 counteroffensive.
On Saturday, Russian troops entered Krasnohorivka, west of town of Donetsk, and on Tuesday claimed to have captured two different villages west of Avdievka: Pivdenny and Vesele.
However essentially the most important report is that Russia claims to have superior into Chasiv Yar, a strategic excessive floor that provides them entry to the plains resulting in the cities of Slovsk and Kramatorsk, which make up Ukraine Pillar of protection in Donetsk.
Ukrainian forces have to this point succeeded in holding Russian forces on the japanese aspect of the Siversky-Donetsk canal by Chasiv Yar, however on Monday Russian journalists stated troopers have been already in Chasiv Yar Breaking by at some extent to the north, the canal lies underground. These studies haven’t been confirmed.
Ukrainian forces have additionally had success on the bottom.
On Friday and Saturday they pushed again Russian troops by Vovchask within the northern Kharkov area and certain cleared them from the south aspect of the Vovcha River, which flows by the city. On Might 11, Russian troops launched a brand new offensive in Kharkov, however did not make a lot progress.
Assault behind enemy traces
Ukraine’s biggest success, along with holding on to the entrance traces, has been in putting deep into Russia and the occupied territories.
Ukrainian Military tactical missiles (ATACMS) struck Russia’s Crimean Sakhi airport on Friday, destroying an ammunition depot and a radar station. On Monday, Ukraine struck once more at Sakyi and is assessing the injury.
Ukraine first attacked Sakhi in September 2022, forcing Russia to maneuver Sukhoi fighter jets stationed there to Russian territory. Since then, the Sakhi has been used to launch missile and drone assaults in opposition to Ukraine, however Ukraine has repeatedly struck it, weakening its capabilities.
On Saturday, Ukrainian drones struck three Russian navy airports – Engels Airport within the Saratov area, Diaghilev Airport in Ryazan and Olenya Airport in Murmansk – 1,800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border (1,120 miles).
Ukrainian authorities sources stated the assault broken a number of Tupolev-95 and Tupolev-22 strategic bombers. These embrace two Tu-22M3 bombers, able to carrying 24 tons of ammunition, which Russia has used on many events to drop “Dagger” ballistic missiles in opposition to Ukraine. Ukraine additionally claimed injury to a Tupolev-134 passenger airplane and an Ilyushin-78 tanker plane.
Ukrainian drones struck the Polevaya oil depot in Kursk on Sunday, destroying three of 11 tanks as Russian President Vladimir Putin was talking at a naval parade in St. Petersburg. On Tuesday, Ukrainian drones destroyed three extra tanks on the Kurskvozy oil depot.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Normal Workers stated its forces attacked 4 traction energy stations within the Kursk, Ponerovsky and Soltsevsky areas that present energy to railway traces used to move conflict provides. Drones additionally broken energy crops within the Orel and Belgorod areas.
Ukraine efficiently attacked Russian power and navy infrastructure all through the conflict, notably within the Black Sea.
Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchak stated on Sunday that plane had been fully withdrawn from two of the 5 airfields utilized by Russian naval aviation.
The withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet to Novorossiysk additionally highlights the success of Ukrainian sea and air drones in deterring the Russian Navy.
