UAF – Ukrainian Forces
RF – Russian Forces
MLRS – Multiple Launch Rocket Systems
Summary of the Events
RF made some limited gains towards Siversk but were repelled everywhere else. UAF conducted four strategic strikes destroying weapon depots, troop positions, and a strategic bridge over the Dnepr River. Ukraine was the winner over the last two days.
Battle for the Donbas
Target Siversk – RF have gained full control of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region and are advancing towards Hryhorivka and Serebrianka. RF have also captured most of Spirne. RF also attempted assaults on Verkhnokamyanske and Berestove to the east of Siversk, and Bilohorivka (Donetsk region) to the north. The three attacks were repelled.
Target Bakhmut – RF conducted several assaults in the region including Pokrovs’ke, Vershyna, Semyhiria, Novoluhanske, and the Vuhlehirsk powerplant. All except the assault on Pokrovs’ke were repelled. RF are now fighting on the outskirts of Pokrovs’ke.
Target Slovyansk – RF attempted an assault on Dmytrivka but were repelled. UAF had some success pushing back RF near Brazhkivka.
Slovyansk came under fire on Tuesday with RF shelling private homes. Two people were killed with several other trapped under the rubble.
Target Kramatorsk – RF shelled a four-story residential building in Kramatorsk on Tuesday killing one man.
Expansion from Donetsk – RF unsuccessfully assaulted Kamianka, Novomykhailivka, and Vuhledar.
Battle for Kharkiv
RF shelled Kharkiv on Wednesday killing three civilians, including a 13-year-old child.
UAF have reentered Dementiivka placing the town in contention again. RF unsuccessfully launched assaults against Udy and Husarivka.
Battle for Kherson
UAF destroyed the Antonovskiy Bridge over the Dnepr River connecting to Kherson. It is one of only two bridges that will allow RF to resupply their forces in the Kherson region. That leaves the only bridge over the Dnepr River to be at Nova Kakhovka. It that one is also destroyed, Russia will find it difficult to supply their troops in the Kherson region or to conduct a retreat if necessary.
UAF conducted two airstrikes against RF near Lozove on the front lines on Tuesday. The first struck a tank platoon followed by an attack on a nearby stronghold. 41 Russian soldiers were killed in the attacks. Equipment destroyed included a SU-35 aircraft, one drone, three Grad systems, four howitzers, and three armored vehicles.
UAF destroyed a modern radar station of the Russians in the village of Lazurne on Wednesday. Then in the evening they destroyed a field artillery depot near the village of Doslidne. Eleven Russian soldiers were killed in that last attack as well as the depot and one howitzer.
Other Regions
Dnipropetrovsk – RF fired 40 MLRS on Nikopol in the early hours of Tuesday hitting private homes, ports, and two industrial facilities. There were no casualties. Later in the day attacks were made against Kryvyi Rih and Nikopol hitting a recreation center in Nikopol. There were no casualties.
Mykolaiv – Mykolaiv has been under constant attack every day for several weeks now. The number of missiles being fired is more than the air defenses can handle. The mayor of Mykolaiv is urging all citizens to evacuate the city. Most of the 230,000 residents still in the city are elderly. 29 civilians were injured in the attacks.
Odesa – In the early hours Tuesday morning, RF fired seven Kalibr-type cruise missiles at a village in the Odesa region. One of them was shot down by UAF defenses. This was then followed by massive shelling. At least three homes were destroyed as well as a school and cultural center. Six civilians, including a child, were injured.
Sumy – Nearly 80 rockets fell on seven border towns in the Sumy region on Tuesday. There were no casualties or destruction of buildings.
Vinnytsia – Neurologist Natalia Falshtynska became the 25th casualty of the RF missile strike of a shopping mall in Vinnytsia. She died of her injuries in the hospital on Tuesday.
Other News
Russia is suffering from a depletion of their forces since the beginning of the invasion. And this problem is only going to get worse for them. Their immediate goal is to take all the Donbas, but UAF gains in Kherson are diverting resources from this goal to defend the territory they have taken in Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. If Russia is to make any more progress towards their goal, it will be slow in coming, something they cannot afford. Russia has been recruiting among the ethnic minorities in the country afraid of Russian backlash against the war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu met with Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov of the Eastern group of forces which suggests that Russia’s next immediate goal is not the taking of Slovyansk, but of Siversk and Bakhmut as I have believed to be the case in my updates. Shoigu instructed RF to concentrate for now on taking out the MLRS systems provided by the U.S. that are inflicting significant damage on RF.
Ukrainian citizens remaining in occupied territories such as Melitopol and Kherson are snatching up Russian passports and pledging allegiance to their new overlords. But there are still many who are refusing to give up hope of again being a part of Ukraine.
President Zelensky has fired Ukraine’s top prosecutor and security chief after 650 cases of treasonous acts by dozens of their employees had been revealed.
Syria announced that they were severing diplomatic ties with Ukraine on Wednesday as Russian and Ukrainian diplomats began meeting in Istanbul with Turkish and UN representatives to begin peace talks.
International Support
Ukraine has joined the International Energy Agency (IAE) as an association country. This will provide Ukraine with practical expertise on reconstructing its energy infrastructure after the war.