ISW: Ukrainian army achieves significant success in Bakhmut area

On July 7, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces achieved tactically significant successes in the Bakhmut area of Donetsk Region and continued counter-offensive operations in at least three other sectors of the front.

The published footage with geo-location shows that the Ukrainian army has achieved tactically significant successes in the area of the village of Yagodnoe (2 km north of Bakhmut). The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that the Ukrainian troops were conducting offensive operations north and south of Bakhmut and continue to counter-offensive in the south of Zaporizhzhia region and along the administrative border between Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, Caliber.az reports, citing analysts of the Institute for the Study of War.

In turn, the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Col-Gen Oleksandr Syrsky, noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had established control over the previously lost positions in the Bakhmut area.

Ukrainian Spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Kovalyov added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine also achieved partial success near Kleschievka (7km southwest of Bakhmut). The Russian Defense Ministry and other Russian sources claimed that the Ukrainian forces were conducting offensive operations in the direction of Kremennaya of Luhansk region along the border of Kharkiv and Luhansk regions.

Key takeaways from ISW:

• Russia sent almost the entire Eastern Group of troops to the south of Ukraine.
• The deployment of almost the entire Russian Eastern Group of Forces and vast units of the Southern Military District on the front lines in southern Ukraine suggests that Russian defenses in southern Ukraine may be fragile.
• From June 6 to 7, the Russian troops launched a series of missile attacks on the rear of Ukraine.
• The Russian and Ukrainian troops continued ground attacks along the border of Kharkiv and Luhansk regions. Between July 6 and 7, the Ukrainian troops achieved tactically significant successes in the Bakhmut area.
• Russian sources claim that on July 7, Ukrainian forces launched a new wave of counterattacks in the western part of Zaporizhzhia region.
• The Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP continues to restrict the access of international observers to the facility.
• The Russian Defense Ministry has developed a bill, expanding the list of gross disciplinary offenses in the Russian Armed Forces.
• The Russian authorities continue to pose themselves as responsible guardians of Ukrainian children, trying to discredit Ukraine, while continuing to forcibly deport Ukrainian children to Russia.