Ukrainian forces continue to move slowly against Russian forces with the only noteworthy gain by Russia being the capture of Novoselivske northwest of Svatove last Wednesday. Ukrainian forces have reached the western outskirts of Klishchiivka to the south of Bakhmut and are closing in on Dubovo-Vasylivka, Yahidne, and Berkhivka to the north. With the entire town of Bakhmut now within artillery range, Ukraine opened fire on all the Russian forces held up in the city and turned their life into a living hell. Unable to escape the city because Russian barrier troops fire upon all that try to retreat, they must endure the constant shelling.
On the Avdiivka front, Ukrainian forces are pushing back Russian troops to the northeast as they advance towards Vesele. It also has been verified that Ukrainian forces did not liberate Priyutne as reported last week. Ukrainian forces have reached the outskirts and the city is contested. Ukrainian forces continue their push towards Robotyne as well on the Zaporizhian Front. Overall, Ukraine has liberated 157 square miles (254 square km) of territory since the start of the counteroffensive, which is roughly half of what Russia captured since the beginning of 2023. So, in five weeks Ukraine has liberated what it took Russia to take over six months.
Russia launched another missile and drone attack throughout Ukraine last Thursday evening firing 11 missiles and 18 drones. Ukraine shot down seven of the missiles and twelve of the drones. Those that got through Ukrainian air defense hit an apartment building in Lviv, an infrastructure facility in Zaporizhia, and an apartment building in Cherkassy. Ten civilians were killed and another thirty injured in the attack in Lviv.
Another attack was conducted the following day, but this time the number was not revealed beyond Ukraine reporting they shot down five drones. Industrial and infrastructure targets were hit in Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad Oblasts. Then on Monday, Russia fired on a humanitarian aid center on the frontline city of Orikhiv killing four civilians.
President Zelensky embarked on an international trip arriving first in Bulgaria last Thursday. Although Bulgaria remains on friendly terms with Russia, they have been a major arms provider to Ukraine indirectly delivering military aid through other countries. Zelensky met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to discuss Ukraine’s NATO membership application and to request that Bulgaria begin sending weapons directly to Ukraine to speed up the process. An energy deal was signed between the two countries. Russia condemned the visit by Zelensky. Zelensky then traveled to Turkey to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to encourage him to approve Sweden’s application to NATO. In between he made a stop in the Czech Republic to meet with Czech President Petr Pavel to garner support for Ukraine’s membership in NATO. The Czech Republic pledged to provide Ukraine some attack helicopters, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, and F-16 flight simulators.
Zelensky was hoping to travel to Brussels to meet with the 33 heads of state of Latin American countries within the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), but members of CELAC opposed the meeting not wishing to get involved in what they deem a European issue.
President Zelensky returned to Ukraine on Sunday and made a surprise stop on Snake Island, the island that Russia had captured early in the war but was forced to abandon. Zelensky wrote a note on the island’s sign to prove that he had been there as a snub to Russia’s intention of using the island to attack Ukraine. Polish President Andrzej Duda the met with President Zelensky in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk on Sunday the day before heading to Vilnius for the NATO summit. Zelensky asked Duda to push for security guarantees for Ukraine at the summit.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan surprised the world in three ways this last week. During a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdogan called for Ukraine to be promised NATO membership. He then broke an agreement with Russia and allowed the five commanders who led the defense of Mariupol to return with President Zelensky to Ukraine. A deal had been brokered to release the five commanders to Turkey under the condition they would remain under house arrest in Turkey until the conclusion of the war. And then just one day before the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Erdogan announced that he would only allow the NATO membership application of Sweden to move forward, if Turkey’s EU membership application also would resume.
Two weeks after the deal was made with Wagner Group forces to drop all charges of treason in exchange for them to either sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense, return to civilian life, or join the reconstituted Wagner Group in Belarus, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has reneged on his commitment and remains in southern Russia with his troops. Afraid of turning him into a martyr, Russian President Putin can do nothing about it and is appearing weak to the Russian people. All Putin can do is call Prigozhin names and try to undermine his reputation, but Prigozhin just continues to grow in popularity. The Wagner Group has stated that they plan to go to Belarus after their summer rest in southern Ukraine is completed.
One of the untold stories of Russian atrocities in Ukraine is the attack on the church. 109 registered acts of religious persecution have been committed by Russia against Ukrainian Orthodox and Protestant churches in the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine. Pastors have been kidnapped, arrested, tortured, and even five have been killed for their faith. 66 churches have been confiscated or destroyed and turned into warehouses, police departments, National Guard offices, or Russian government offices.
The U.S. announced a controversial military aid package for Ukraine on Thursday. Telling the enemies of the world that the U.S. was out of artillery ammunition, President Biden announced that the U.S. would be giving cluster munitions to Ukraine worth $800 million. It is against international law to use such weapons against civilian targets but are quite effective against troops. Whereas Russia has been committing war crimes by dropping munition bombs over Ukrainian cities, Ukraine promises to use them only against Russian troops.
The European Union sealed a plan to boost the production of ammunition to provide more assistance to Ukraine.