Ukraine has made some progress in its counteroffensive operation near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, according to the latest maps released by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The U.S. think tank’s latest update said Kyiv’s forces continued offensive operations near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia Oblast and reportedly advanced on Thursday.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim its territory is now in its fifth month, with particularly heavy clashes taking place along the front lines in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Bakhmut has remained a focal point of the conflict throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Last month Ukraine announced that it had reclaimed the village of Andriivka, roughly six miles south of Bakhmut.
Kyiv said that Moscow’s forces in the area were left “in tatters” after the battle. Bakhmut has seen some of the fiercest clashes of the war, and Ukraine’s counteroffensive is advancing towards the industrial city.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment via email.
The ISW cited a report from the Ukrainian General Staff that said Ukrainian forces on Thursday achieved “unspecified successes” east of Andriivka, while Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun reported that Ukrainian forces achieved partial success west of Robotyne, a key village on Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia front.
“Other Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces unsuccessfully attacked towards the railway near Klishchiivka and Andriivka,” the think tank said. “Russian sources claimed that elements of the Russian 132nd Motorized Rifle Brigade (1st Donetsk People’s Republic [DNR] Army Corps) repelled a Ukrainian attack in the Horlivka direction, likely referring to the area between the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions.”
The think tank said Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast, but did not advance on October 5.
It cited the General Staff as reporting that Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to recapture positions east of Dyliivka (15 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut) and near Hryhorivka (9 kilometers northwest of Bakhmut), Klishchiivka and Andriivka.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said on Thursday that Russia lost six tanks during clashes near Bakhmut.
“In one day we destroyed six Russian tanks in the Bakhmut direction,” Syrskyi, who is in operational control of Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive efforts in the southeast of the country, said on his official Telegram channel.
“The Asgard group and the Ochi unit of the 120th Separate Airborne Brigade worked in cooperation with the Shark group of the 28th Brigade, the Klavdich group of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, and the head of the electronic warfare and cyber warfare service of the 28th Brigade” to destroy the tanks near Bakhmut, the commander added. “Our soldiers eliminated three T-72 tanks, one T-80 and two T-90s.”
Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.