More than forty towns and villages in the Donbass have come under attack in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian military said, acknowledging the “partial success” of a Russian attempt to advance on a front. The General Staff said that Russian forces were now trying to advance west of the Luhansk-Donetsk border towards the towns of Bakhmut and Sloviansk, and “the enemy led an attack in the direction of Verknokamyansk, with partial success.” The Russians were also advancing “in the area of the Spirni settlement,” he added. Verkhnokamianske and Spirne are next to the main highway leading west from the town of Lysychansk, which fell last week. The Ukrainians also said that “invaders are advancing in the direction of Vesela Dolyna”, located near Bakhmut. The General Staff said the Russians were using artillery, mortars, multiple-launch missile systems and airstrikes as they tried to eliminate Ukrainian defenses. In its analysis of the military situation on Friday, international security consultancy the Cavell Group tweeted: “Fighting continues to be fierce in many of the streets and settlements around Shiversk now with heavy artillery exchanges and in this area. The situation is very fluid here as Russia pushes forces west.” Siversk is the last town of any size on the roads west to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Cavell added: “A similar situation is occurring at Bakhmut with Russia slowly making gains against heavy resistance but slowly securing most of the highway to Lysychansk and closing in on Bakhmut’s defences.” The Institute for the Study of War said: “Russian forces are still conducting limited ground attacks and air, artillery and missile strikes across all axes on July 7 and will likely continue to be limited to small-scale offensive actions as they rebuild forces and position conditions for a more significant attack.” As well as trying to push west from the Luhansk border, the Russians came under artillery fire on settlements north of Sloviansk, with the Ukrainian General Staff saying “our defenders inflicted casualties on the enemy during his next offensive attempt and pushed back invaders near Bohorodychne. “about 20 kilometers north of the city. Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region military command, said that “to reach the administrative border of Luhansk region, the Russians are destroying the surrounding villages with artillery…they don’t stop firing from all kinds of heavy weapons” in few villages that were not already under their control. “But our armed forces are holding the fort,” Headey said, indicating that resistance continues along the regional border. Elsewhere, the Ukrainian General Staff reported further artillery attacks on settlements north of Kharkiv, and local authorities said there were civilian casualties in a rocket attack on the city’s eastern suburbs. Regional military commands reported incoming fire in both Sumi, in the north, and Krivi Ri, in the south, with no casualties. Also in the south, Russian forces continue to shell regions of Kherson and Mykolayiv in an attempt to regain recently lost territory, according to regional administrations, and several villages were on the verge of destruction. The Cavell team estimated that “north of Kherson there were phases of intensive artillery bombardment yesterday [Thursday], but there are no significant changes on the ground. Around the city of Kherson Ukrainian [forces] launched coordinated artillery fire on some Russian fortified defensive positions.” Watch the backstory here.
