UAF – Ukrainian Forces
RF – Russian Forces
MLRS – Multiple Launch Rocket Systems
Summary of the Events
The RF rest has ended, and Russia is back on the offensive with Siversk as their number one target. RF have also made some gains in retaking territory north of Kharkiv and in the Kherson region.
Belarus
UAF have begun mining areas along the border with Belarus.
Battle for the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk)
Target Siversk – RF is concentrating on capturing Siversk next. They entered the eastern outskirts of Hryhorivka, and street fighting has begun. RF took the village of Verkhnokamyanske, but UAF counterattacked, and the settlement is under dispute again. RF are also attacking Ivano-Darivka and for the second time claimed to have taken Spirne, but no evidence has yet been given and since they lied about it a few days ago, I am assuming it is still under dispute.
Target Bakhmut – RF have crossed the M-03 highway and are advancing towards Vesela Dolyna. The train station in Chasiv Yar, used to supply UAF troops defending Bakhmut, was destroyed by four missiles. A hospital , cultural center, residential buildings, and a playground were all damaged in the attack. RF also attempted to establish control over the Vuhlehirsk Power Plant but were repelled and forced to retreat.
Target Kramatorsk/Slovyansk – RF launched assaults on Dolyna and Krasnopillya but were repulsed. RF have taken most of Bohorodychne, but UAF still control the high ground south of the settlement. A home was hit in Slovyansk burying the owner under the rubble. He was rescued later in the day.
Expansion from Donetsk – RF attempted to retake Marinka but were repulsed. They continue their attacks on Avdiivka but with no success.
Battle for Kharkiv
RF have made some concerted efforts to retake territory north of Kharkiv to put themselves back into artillery range of Ukraine’s second largest city. They have moved south from Vesele and have taken Male Vesele and are now attacking Petrivka. RF also attempted to retake Dementiivka but were repelled. Fourteen communities were bombarded during the day north of Kharkiv with tanks, mortars, gun, and rocket artillery. A rocket attack was made on Kharkiv injuring three civilians.
Battle for Kherson
The situation does not look good as RF are back on the offensive and it looks like they have retaken Lozove and Bilohirka in the north. There is heavy fighting at Davydiv Brid, and the cloud of silence makes it hard to know what is happening there.
UAF destroyed another RF weapons depot just outside of Kherson in Chornobaivka.
Other Regions
Chernihiv – RF shelled UAF on the border near the villages of Senkivka and Mykolaivka.
Dnipropetrovsk – RF shelled a residential neighborhood in Kryvyi Rih with Grad rockets in the morning killing two women and injuring three others. A school and several apartment buildings were damaged in the attack. In the evening three missiles struck Radushne, but no information has been released on damage.
Mykolaiv – RF fired six rockets against Mykolaiv in the morning. Two private homes were razed and another three damaged. Two businesses were also damaged as well as two apartment buildings. There were no casualties.
Odesa – The death toll from the Russian attack on an apartment building and recreation center in Serhiyivka on July 1 has risen to 22 as a 53-year-old employee of the recreational center succumbed to his injuries and died in the hospital last Wednesday.
Sumy – RF shelled UAF on the border near the settlements of Esman and Oleksiivka.
Zaporizhia – RF carried out an airstrike near Mali Shcherbaky.
Other News
Russia has begun moving reserve forces to the Ukrainian border for the next phase of their invasion. But this time they are coming with far inferior MT-LB armored vehicles built in the 1950s. This is a signal that they have used up their modern weaponry.
Russia is taking an economic gamble. Since they know that Europe will be ending their dependence on Russian oil by the end of 2022 anyway, they are taking the economic hit now by slashing their energy exports to Europe in hopes that European popular sentiment in support of Ukraine will fold as Europe is not prepared for such a cut in oil and gas imports. As I reported yesterday, Germany is already putting pressure on Canada to return Russian gas turbine equipment that had been sent to Canada prior to the invasion for repairs. Russia shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany claiming the lack of such turbines. Russia is hoping to split the alliance against them by hurting Europe first.
60-year-old Russian opposition party member Alexei Gorinov, who serves on the Moscow city council, was arrested, and received a seven-year prison sentence for denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
International Support
Canada has joined the UK by adding Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to their sanction list.
After Ukraine has shown their successful use of the US Himars rocket systems and new precision artillery shells, the US announced they will send another $400 million worth of these systems with ammunition to Ukraine.