The ISW made the assessment in its latest report on the war in Ukraine, published on Tuesday night.
The US experts wrote: “Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on July 11 and made gains in some areas.”
Ukrainian troops continued offensive operations in the direction of the southeastern city of Melitopol, in the Zaporizhzhia region, and in the direction of the southeastern port of Berdyansk, in the border area between the Zaporizhzhia region and the eastern Donetsk province, the ISW said, citing Ukraine’s General Staff.
Col. Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces, stated that Ukrainian forces were “continuing counteroffensive operations around Bakhmut” in the Donetsk region, according to the US think tank.
Geolocated footage published on Monday indicated that Ukrainian forces had advanced northeast of the village of Robotyne, 15 kilometres south of the city of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region, the ISW also reported.
It also cited a Russian military blogger as saying that Ukrainian forces had established control over new positions northwest of Klishchiivka, 7 kilometres southwest of Bakhmut, and advanced up to 1.5 kilometres near Rozdolivka, 19 kilometres northeast of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.
On Monday, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said that her country had so far reclaimed 192.6 square kilometres of land from Russia in the summer counteroffensive, including 14 square kilometres over the past week.
Britain, France, Germany pledge new military aid to Ukraine
Britain’s government on Tuesday announced a new USD 64.7 million support package for equipment repair and establishment of a military rehabilitation centre in Ukraine, the UK’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
As part of the new tranche of assistance, Britain and fellow members of the Group of Seven most advanced economies and liberal democracies will supply thousands of additional rounds of ammunition for the Challenger 2 tanks and over 70 combat and logistics vehicles, according to The Guardian.
Meanwhile, France said it would provide Ukraine with long-range SCALP missiles (the French name for Storm Shadow missiles) to conduct deep defensive strikes against Russia, the ISW said.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, as quoted by The Guardian: “I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment to enable the Ukrainians to have the capacity to strike deeply while keeping our doctrine to allow Ukraine to defend its territory."
A French diplomatic source said the package would comprise about 50 SCALP missiles produced by European manufacturer MBDA, according to the Reuters news agency.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday that Germany would provide Ukraine with two Patriot air defence launchers, 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 25 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks, and five Bergepanzer-2 armoured recovery vehicles over an unspecified time period, the ISW reported.
These pledges were made as NATO leaders began a two-day summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, news outlets reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 504 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, ISW, mil.in.ua, The Guardian, Reuters