2023-07-25 16:04:00
Soldiers and mechanics from the Ukrainian 47th Mechanized Brigade work on the tracks of a US Bradley fighting vehicle in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region on July 13. (Photo: Ed Ram/For The Washington Post/Getty Images)
The Ukrainian army has made gains along the Berdiansk and Melitopol axes of the southern battlefront, according to Kyiv’s own military officials and battlefield reports.
On the Berdyansk front, south of Velyka Novosilka, Ukrainian forces “succeeded in the Staromaiorske direction,” spokesman of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Andrii Kovalov said on Tuesday. Ukrainian forces are now “entrenching themselves in the positions reached.”
“The enemy is resisting strongly, moving their units and using reserves,” Kovalov added.
The Ukrainian General Staff said in its morning update on Tuesday that Russian forces continued to focus on preventing Ukrainian advances along the southern front, indicating that they continued to face strong resistance.
“At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to carry out the offensive operation, on the Melitopol and Berdiansk axes, consolidating their positions,” he added.
Some of those offensive operations towards Melitopol are taking place just south of Orikhiv, with some progress in the last 24 hours.
The Institute for the Study of Warfare says Ukraine was reportedly able to advance 1.7 km to the northeastern outskirts of Robotyne. The presence of Ukrainian forces in the area was endorsed by several well-connected Russian military bloggers.
Some reported that the Ukraine had changed the vector of its attack in the area and encircled the Russian fortifications, bypassing them entirely, supported by its artillery and driving back the Moscow armies.
“They managed to force the units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation to retreat to more advantageous positions,” said a popular Russian military blogger known as War Gonzo.
The Melitopol axis was one of the main thrusts of the early stages of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, where it first employed some of the Western equipment it specifically received to advance. It was also an area where it faced notorious Russian resistance, with Moscow able to maintain columns of western-supplied armor, including US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and German Leopard 2 tanks.
1690307406
#Latestminute #live #news #Russias #war #Ukraine