The 4th of July marks the one-month anniversary of the start of the Ukrainian offensive. The main direction of the Ukrainian attacks is the front of Zaporozhye and southern Donbass. In a month of bloody battles, the Ukrainian army managed to take control of 8 villages on the Russian front lines.
In the Velikaya Novoselka region, the Ukrainian army continues its attempts to attack in small groups along the Priyutnoe-Staromayorskoe line. Russian units have so far managed to contain the enemy, destroying dozens of Ukrainian soldiers every day.
On the eve of the attack, the Ukrainian army managed to wedge itself into the Russian defences about 300 metres north of Rabbotino in the Orekhov region. They managed to reach the front line of defence of the Russian forces, after which an intense trench firefight ensued. After part of the Russian trenches in the field near the village was captured by the assault teams of the 65th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they were heavily shelled by Russian artillery. After regrouping, the Russian troops launched a counterattack, recapturing most of the lost positions.
As of the morning of 3 July, the village of Rabotino in the Zaporozhye region remains under the control of the Russian army, local authorities said.
The Russian army also reported that it repelled a Ukrainian attack by forces up to a platoon in strength north of Nikolsky. Russian sniper fire neutralized a Ukrainian reconnaissance team in the Ravnopol area.
In the Kherson region, fighting continued in the coastal zone near the Antonovsky bridge. Russian units have not yet cleared the area, which is complicated by intense shelling by Ukrainian artillery from across the Dnieper.
The advance of the Ukrainian units in the Bakhmut region was more successful, where they almost reached Kleshchevka and Berhovka. However, after prolonged fighting, the Ukrainian army was neither able to cut off the Russian stronghold in the Zeleznyanskoe-Dubovo-Vasilevka region, nor to advance towards Soledar from the north.
On 2 July, Ukrainian units managed to break through the first line of the Russian defence and reached the outskirts of Berhovka located northeast of Bakhmut. Russian troops launched counterattacks and regained control of the lost positions.
Fierce clashes continue on the southern side of Bahmut. Attempts by Ukrainian assault groups to capture strongholds and high ground near Klesheevka and Kurdymovka are thwarted by Russian small arms and artillery fire.
In the midst of offensive operations by Ukrainian forces, the Russian army finally managed to go on active defense, conducting successful local counterattacks on various lines of the front. Massive artillery and air strikes pounded the advancing Ukrainian army forces, Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian rear, and now Russian infantry are breaking up the enemy with counterattacks, especially on the southern fronts.
