The Ukrainian army had previously informed about the offensive of Russian forces near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, the BBC noted on its Russian-language website. For example, the commander of the ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyj, spoke about the situation. “The enemy went on the offensive in the direction of Kupjansk, with the goal of defeating our troops in the Kupjansk area and continuing the offensive deep into our combat formations,” said the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces.
“In the direction of Lyman and Kupyansk, the enemy concentrated a very strong grouping – more than a hundred thousand people, over 900 tanks, more than 555 artillery systems, 370 salvo rocket launchers,” said Cherevatyj. According to him, Ukrainian soldiers are firmly defending themselves on the spot.
Russian forces reportedly advanced up to 1.5 kilometers on the two kilometers of the northeastern section of the Ukrainian front near Kupjansk. This was stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense, quoted by the TASS agency. The Ukrainian authorities also spoke about the procedure at the weekend.
“The units of the Western Military District continue successful military operations in the direction of Kupyansk,” said Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman of the Russian Ministry. The city is located on the river Oskol, about 40 kilometers from the border with Russia, and is an important railway junction. The occupying troops captured it shortly after the start of the invasion last February and used it on their supply route for units in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Ukrainian forces regained control of it in September last year, and the front line is now just a few kilometers east of the city.
In this context, the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper recalled that, according to analysts of the American Institute for the Study of War, the Russians are trying to force the Ukrainian command to move Ukrainian reserves from more important sections of the front by attacking Kupyansk. According to findings British intelligence in the past week, neither side has achieved significant success on the battlefield.
Heavy fighting continues in the vicinity of Bakhmut, where the losses of the Russian army are said to be close to those of the Wagnerites, spokesman Cherevatyj informed.
According to the analyst, the Russians are moving into their own counter-offensive
“It clearly shows that at the moment Ukraine does not yet have the ability to break through the Russian defenses in the occupied territories. Evidently, after a month of Ukrainian counter-offensive efforts, Russia is starting to take advantage of that failure and is rather switching to a counter-attack on other parts of the front,” security analyst Daniel Koštoval from the CEVRO Institute’s Center for Transatlantic Relations described the current situation on the battlefields.
According to him, the Russians are trying to drain Ukrainian forces from the “platforms” where the counter-offensive is taking place, and subsequently take advantage of Ukraine’s weakening. According to him, it was to be expected that Russia would try to regain the initiative and, in case of Ukrainian failure, it would try to go into its own counter-offensive. “That’s what we seem to be witnessing.”
Ukraine has liberated seven square kilometers of territory around Bakhmut in the past week, Kyiv military officials said Monday. Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maljarová then added that Ukraine has liberated an area of 210 square kilometers since the start of the summer counter-offensive.
Russia has already lost more than 239,000 soldiers in Ukraine since the start of the war, he reported Ukrainian General Staff. Similar claims by hostile parties cannot be verified in wartime conditions.
Night drone attacks
The Russians also shelled southern Ukrainian cities. During the attack on Tuesday night, 36 Shahed-type attack drones of Iranian design were launched from Crimea, which attack directly the target at the cost of their own destruction, and then Kalibr missiles, apparently from the Admiral Essen frigate. Air defense destroyed six calibers, 31 attack drones and one reconnaissance drone, the Ukrainian Air Force added.
“It’s quite serious,” Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych wrote about the fire on Telegram. The flames were extinguished and no one was injured. Air defense shot down four Iranian-made Shahed drones over the Mykolaiv region, the head of Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region Vitaly Kim reported.
An Oil Depot near the Commercial Port in the Ukrainian City of Mykolaiv has reportedly been Hit by at least 1 Russian “Kamikaze” Drone causing a Large Fire to occur at the Site. pic.twitter.com/fmo1EOkvTY
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 17, 2023
Explosions were also heard in Odesa at night. According to the command of the Ukrainian army, six Kalibr cruise missiles were fired at the city, all of which were destroyed by air defenses. “Unfortunately, the debris from the downed missiles and the pressure wave damaged the port infrastructure and several private houses,” the command added. One elderly man was injured and had to be hospitalized. Even before the missile attack, the Russian army sent several waves of drones. As the British BBC noted, reports from the battlefield could not be independently verified.
On the night of Monday, two explosions seriously damaged the bridge connecting Russia with the annexed Crimea. Russian leader Vladimir Putin called it an act of terrorism and promised a response.
2023-07-18 11:20:00
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