Today, Sunday, Ukrainian forces intensified their attacks on the eastern front in an attempt to exploit the “chaos” caused by the Wagner forces’ rebellion crisis in Russia. On the other hand, the Russian army announced that it had confronted an attempted Ukrainian advance towards Bakhmut.
This comes while US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken believes that the Ukrainian counterattack may continue for months, while Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he gives top priority to the success of the military operation in Ukraine.
The commander of operations in eastern Ukraine, Oleksandr Sersky, said that the Ukrainian forces are moving towards Bakhmut, indicating that they have carried out attacks and inflicted losses on the equipment and machinery of the Russian forces on the eastern front.
Sirsky added that the 45th Artillery Brigade and the Air Force carried out precise attacks in the direction of the Luhansk region, as he put it.
And the Ukrainian forces published video clips, which they said were of targeting Russian vehicles with artillery and suicide marches in the vicinity of Bakhmut.
This comes after the Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister announced the progress of her country’s forces in a simultaneous attack towards 6 towns north and south of Bakhmut.
Also regarding Bakhmut, the commander of the 3rd Brigade of the Ukrainian Army, Andrei Beletsky, said that his country’s forces carried out what he described as cleansing operations in the western bank of the “Seversky Donets-Donbass” channel, located south of Bakhmut.
He added, “Our fighters defeated the third battalion of the 57th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Russian Federation,” stressing that 30 Russian fighters were killed and 50 wounded, in addition to the capture of dozens of them, and their military vehicles were destroyed.
On the Russian side, a spokesman for the Russian Southern Forces, Vadim Astafyev, said that the Russian forces repelled Ukrainian attacks carried out by 10 units of armored vehicles in the direction of Bakhmut.
Astafyev added that his forces repelled 4 attacks in the vicinity of Bakhmut, and destroyed an infantry unit at the “Marinka” axis, south of Donetsk.
In Kharkiv province, a spokesman for the Russian West’s forces, Sergey Zybinsky, said that his forces launched 11 missile strikes on the areas where two brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces are stationed in the direction of Kobyansk, Kharkiv province.
For its part, the Russian “Redovka” website published a video clip, which it said was to target a Ukrainian group in Kharkiv.
Ukrainian happiness
Regarding the repercussions of what happened in Russia on Saturday on the Russian war in Ukraine, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that new winds are expected to blow in Russia, referring to the possibility of recurring divisions.
Podolyak added, in a tweet on Twitter, that what he described as the tragic comedy that took place in Russia explains to world leaders why Ukraine does not see any opportunity to negotiate with Russia, asking who can talk to in a house that has no master, as he described it.
He pointed out that the situation in Russia is fragile and uncontrollable.
Yesterday, Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the rebellion of the Russian Wagner Group revealed what he described as complete chaos in Russia.
Zelensky added that chaos in Russia is in the interest of Kiev, as he put it.
Blinken remarks
For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the Ukrainian counterattack is in its early days and may continue for months, and that the Ukrainians have what they need to succeed.
Blinken added that the Ukrainian counterattack is progressing well, stressing that Russia’s distraction due to the Wagner crisis creates an additional advantage for the Ukrainians.
And he added, “We do not have complete information about what happened in Russia, and we have not seen any dismissals of military leaders, and I think that the unrest in Russia may continue for weeks or months.”
Since June 4, Ukrainian forces have launched a counterattack in the east and south of the country, and have confirmed that they have since recovered 8 towns and villages, especially in Donetsk (east) and Zaporizhia (southeast) provinces.
Kiev acknowledged that the progress of its forces was going slower than expected, and confirmed that the main operations had not yet begun, while Moscow said that the Ukrainian forces had suffered heavy losses and had not made significant progress.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I69gQUz-Xk
Putin’s priorities
On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country is able to achieve all the plans and tasks that it sets, and this includes the special military operation in Ukraine, and the country’s economy.
He added that Russia attaches importance to economic development in parallel with strengthening its defense capabilities.
