The operation employs Leopard tanks and French armored vehicles.

With rapid attacks towards the villages of Velika Novosilka and Novodonetske in the Donetsk province, the Ukrainian military kicked off on 4 June the long-anticipated offensive to liberate its south-eastern region and the Crimean Peninsula from Russian occupation.

A Ukrainian official confirmed this development of events.

“What is happening now? We are continuing the defense that began on 24 February 2022. The defensive operation includes everything, including counteroffensive actions. Therefore, in some areas we are moving to offensive actions. In particular, the Bakhmut direction remains the epicenter of hostilities. There we are moving along a fairly wide front. We are successful. We occupy the dominant heights. The enemy is on the defensive, he wants to hold his position,” said Ganna Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, in a Telegram post on 5 June 2023. 

The Ukrainian army also advances in the Bakhmut zone where the Wagner fighters had withdrawn last week. Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the Russian militia unit “Vostok”, said the Ukrainians attacked Russian positions with up to 30 armored vehicles including Leopard tanks.

He admitted the assault in Velika Novosilka was successful but the enemy did not follow standard behavior to get a better grip on the conquered territory; on the contrary, they rapidly pulled out and attacked later in Novodonetske, 12 kilometers south-east, trying to “grope our weak spots.” 

During the hit-and-go strike there, the Ukrainian military disrupted Russian communications and advanced six kilometers.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow named the 23rd and 31st mechanized brigades including two tank battalions as the Ukrainian operating forces near Velika Novosilka and Novodonetske.

A map with the area where Ukraininan forces launched heavy assaults on Russian positions on 4 June 2023. Credit: The Economist

Similar attacks are reported in other parts of the 1,000-kilometer frontline, including villages in the Zaporizhia province and around the town of Soledar, which is about 12 kilometers north-west of Bakhmut. Ukraine has prepared at least 12 brigades for the operation, which should count between 36,000 and 60,000 troops. This may not be sufficient but the infantry is heavily backed by modern tanks and light armored vehicles, including German Leopards, British Challengers, and French Leclercs.

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It is not clear whether Ukraine will continue to push in this direction, which seems a logical strategy to break the Russian defenses into two and disconnect the terrestrial supply lines from Russia to Crimea, or it’s just a distraction to cover up Kiev’s true intentions. Recent incursions of Russian fighters serving in the Ukrainian army into the border districts of the Russian Federation adds up to confusion in Moscow.

Russia has been building successive lines of land defenses in the occupied territories and mobilized new troops at home to resist the expected Ukrainian offensive. Russian war correspondents claim that those defenses are fragile due to the poor training of Russian personnel in defensive tactics and describe the situation as “severe.”

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