Ukraine Update. Day 7. Part II.
Kiev.
Little Russian activity apart from sporadically shelling the Ukrainian capital, regrouping and bringing in reinforcements and supplies from the North. Local Ukrainian counter-attack South West of the city, probably in the direction of the P04 road.
Kharkiv.
Heavy shelling. The Russian army is bringing in more artillery and armour. The second largest Ukrainian city is now boxed in on three sides by Russian troops. Successful local Ukrainian counter-attack South East of Kharkiv toward the Russian border (in order to keep the last route of escape out of Kharkiv open).
Horvilka.
Successful local Ukrainian attack towards the town of Horvilka, in the Donetsk breakaway republic. Horvilka has been at the hands of Donetsk Separatists since 2014. Some reports say Ukrainian troops retreated back to the suburbs, others say they are digging-in.
Enerhodar-Vasylivka.
Russian troops have taken Enerhodar. Fighting has broken out on the outskirts of Vasylivka. They are less than 50km from Zaporizhzhia. Taking those two towns would ensure the Russians control most of the main supply roads leading towards Mariupol. It would also bring them one step closer to Dnipro and then Poltava. Should they succeed in doing so, they would have fulfilled their (obvious) goal of cutting Ukraine in two along a rough North-South axis.
The Russians now control over 280km along the Eastern/Southern bank of the Dnieper river.
Nikolayev.
Russian troops are still pushing toward Nikolayev (Mykolaiv). VDV might be involved. Little progress made in that direction, most of their efforts seem to have been directed at consolidating their bridgehead across the Dnieper (Kherson, Nova Khakovka), consolidating South of Kherson and bringing in reinforcements.
Summary.
The Ukrainian army has executed three small counter-attacks, today. Those local successes will be good for the morale of their troops. Looking at the big picture, they are fighting well but are losing ground overall.
The Russian army seemed to have dedicated the day to regrouping, resupplying and bringing in reinforcements to the front line, including troops, armour and heavy artillery. The Russian army seems to have somewhat reverted to type in its approach to warfare, although BTGs are still not fighting as whole units and artillery and air support are still lagging behind, along with their ISR tools (UAVs/Drones). Things could change in the next few days.
Konotop and Kharkiv seem to have both received a Russian ultimatum of sorts.
Russian and Ukrainian hardware losses.
Oryx has created a database of destroyed, captured and abandoned Russian and Ukrainian vehicles. Here are some point of interests.
Tanks: Russia-54 (17 destroyed), Ukraine-19 (6 destroyed).
AFVs: Russia-51 (19 destroyed), Ukraine-24 (6 destroyed).
IFVs: Russia-62 (18 destroyed), Ukraine-20 (8 destroyed).
APCs: Russia-24 (9 destroyed), Ukraine-10 (1 destroyed).
SPGs: Russia-10 (2 destroyed), Ukraine-6 (2 destroyed).
MRLS: Russia-11 (4 destroyed), Ukraine-0
SAMs: Russia-17 (8 destroyed), Ukraine-6 (6 destroyed).
Aircraft: Russia-3 (3 destroyed), Ukraine-5 (5 destroyed).
Helicopters: Russia-6 (4 destroyed), Ukraine-0
Radars: Russia-0, Ukraine-5 (3 destroyed).
Oryx usually stay away from any propaganda and are a reliable source. They did a sterling job covering the Syrian conflict. Their database is updated daily.
Defensionem
