INTENSE BATTLES AND SHIFTING STRATEGIES DEFINE UKRAINIAN FRONTLINES

Heavy battles continue in southern and eastern Ukraine, while the frontlines remain almost unchanged. The Ukrainian military continues attempts to break through Russian defenses, directing the main assault efforts from one area to another. In their turn, Russian forces are fiercely resisting on all fronts, launching counterattacks in order to keep Ukrainian reserves in battles. The Ukrainian assault south of Velikaya Novoselka is stuck. After several weeks of bloody attacks in the area of Novodonetskoe and Novomayorskoe, the Ukrainian military failed to achieve any results and is reportedly preparing a defensive posture. According to the reports from the front, Ukrainian attacks by small groups continue but Ukrainian forces began mining the areas near their positions in order to prevent any Russian counterattacks. In general, the lull continues in this direction. Some small Ukrainian groups on armored vehicles are unsuccessfully attempting to approach Russian positions near Urozhainoe. As a result of several failed attacks, Ukrainians retreated with losses near Staromayorskoe. All Ukrainian attempts to take back the positions that were recently captured by Russians north of Priyutnoe were also repelled. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military command again shifted the focus of the main direction of their counteroffensive, in the area south of Orekhov. The Ukrainian army resumed assaults with renewed vigor along the Rabotino-Verbovoe line. Ukrainian units do not abandon costly attempts to wedge into the Russian defense and break through to the key heights near Krivaya balka. To the west and south-west of Rabotino, Ukrainian forces continue attacks, seeking to advance towards the villages of Kopani and Novoprokopovka. Positional battles do not stop between Novoprokopovka and Verbovoe, heavy artillery duels continue. After weeks of continuous grinding of Ukrainian manpower in the area of Rabotino, Russian units recently launched several successful counterattacks. The Russian advance on the eastern outskirts of the village threatened the Ukrainian grouping with a fire bag in the ruins of the destroyed settlement. Both sides are pulling up reserves to the area. According to some Western reports, the Russian army has reinforced its positions with additional airborne units in the last two weeks. There are reportedly about 10 thousand Russian servicemen deployed in the area. The Russian military is still profiting from its dominance in the air and Ukrainian attempts to deploy its remaining aircraft for unprecise strikes on Russian positions from a remote distance lead to growing losses. Over the past day, Russian forces shot another Ukrainian aircraft with a MANPAD over Orekhov. The situation remains tense in the Bakhmut region, where the months-long Ukrainian attacks forced the Russian units to withdraw their positions beyond the railway line east of Klescheevka and Andreevka. Despite the premature claims from Kiev, the Ukrainian military is yet to take control of the destroyed villages. Battles continue in the ruins.