Ukrainian forces have made gains on two sectors of the frontline according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which has mapped the latest advances against Russian troops.
The Ukrainian General Staff has said that Ukrainian forces are continuing offensive actions near Bakhmut in the Donetsk oblast and offensive operations in the Melitopol direction in western Zaporizhhia oblast.
The ISW said on Monday that Ukraine’s troops had advanced near Bakhmut with geolocated footage showing advances around Kurdiumivka, a settlement that lies about six miles southwest of the fiercely fought-over town.
Kostya Liberov/Getty Images
Recapturing Bakhmut, seized by Russia in May, is one of the goals of Ukraine’s counteroffensive launched in June, whose aim of recapturing Russian-occupied territory has progressed only incrementally.
Ukraine’s General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces’ operations in the east, reported on Monday that Moscow had strengthened its forces in the Bakhmut sector, switching from defense to active actions.
Syrskyi said that the situation on this eastern front is challenging, with Russia escalating its activities in the Kupiansk sector from where its forces are launching attacks from multiple directions.
Meanwhile, geolocated footage from Sunday showed marginal Ukrainian gains west of the town of Robotyne in the western Zaporizhzhia region, according to the ISW which displayed the situation in one map.
The Ukrainian General Staff said on Monday that its troops were inflicting losses on Russian forces south of Bakhmut while Russian sources said that Ukraine had tried to unsuccessfully advance beyond the railway line between Klishchiivka and Andriivka, southwest of Bakhmut.
Another ISW map showed the Ukrainian advances in this area in the southern sector of the front, with the graphic highlighting Kyiv’s progress east of the railway line near the town of Kurdyumivka and east of Andriivka.
Institute for the Study of War
Institute for the Study of War
This comes amid reports that Russia had changed its leadership in the occupied Kherson oblast, where Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, had replaced Colonel General Oleg Makarevich.
Russian military bloggers said that Makarevich was removed from his post for providing false reports to his superiors about the situation on the ground.
British defense officials said on Tuesday that Teplinsky is “likely held in high regard” by the Russian military, having successfully withdrawn troops from the west of the Dnieper River in November 2022 during their retreat from Kherson.
Repelling Ukrainian attacks across the river and holding territory in occupied Kherson Oblast “remains a high priority objective for Russian forces in Ukraine,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in its daily update, and Teplinsky’s appointment “is likely an indication of increased pressure on Russian forces defending the area.”
Newsweek has emailed the Russian defense ministry for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.