Russia-Ukraine War Update for July 9, 2022

[KYIV, Ukraine] – MTN It has been 3,053 days since Russia occupied Crimea on February 27, 2014.

On July 8, there was only a minor territorial change related to liberation or capture in Ukraine. There weren’t major combat operations by either belligerent theaterwide. Artillery, rocket, missile, and air strikes continued, as well as skirmishes, reconnaissance in force, and positional battles.

Severodonetsk-Lysychansk – In Luhansk, fighting near the Verkhnokamyanka oil refinery and for control of Bilohorivka continued. To the west of the oil refinery, Ukrainians mounted a furious counterattack in Verkhnokamyanske and pushed Russian forces back to the Luhansk-Donetsk border.

Luhansk Regional State Administrative and Military Governor Serhiy Haidai reported, “So far, no operational pause announced by the enemy has been observed. [Russia] attacks and bombards our lands with the same intensity as before.”

Northeast Donetsk – Siversk – Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged intense artillery fire. Russian forces shelled Zaitseve, Vershyna, Yakolivka, and Ivano-Darivka. The Russian air force attacked Spirne, with Ukrainian forces holding the Russian ground assault at the eastern edge of the settlement.

Bakhmut – No reliable source reported any major offensive or counteroffensive operations around Lyman, Siversk, Soledar, or Bakhmut. Russian forces tried to advance on Hrybhorivka, but the line of conflict remained frozen.

Pro-Russian social media accounts reported Ukrainian forces shelled Klynove, preventing terrorist elements of the Imperial Legion working with Private Military Company Wagner Group from advancing.

The most intense fighting was in the Svitlodarsk bulge for control of the Vuhledar Power Plant. Russian forces tried to advance from Dolomitne, Novoluhaske, and Luhanske. They were unsuccessful in all areas.

Southwest Donetsk – Zaporizhia – In southwest Donetsk, there were scattered artillery exchanges from Horlivka to Donetsk city to Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk Oblast and Hulyaipole to Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia Oblast.

NATO-provided High Mobility Rocket Artillery System (HIMARS) rockets hit an ammunition depot just north of Russia-controlled Kadiivka. There have been numerous secondary explosions. The Kirovs’kyi fuel depot, hit by artillery or HIMARS-delivered rockets on July 7, continued to burn. Precision munitions hit another weapons facility in the Kalininskyi District of Donetsk. Secondary explosions indicate the target was an ammunition depot.

Kherson – Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine called for civilians in the occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts to evacuate by all possible means.

“We must look for an opportunity to leave because our Armed Forces will [be liberating]. It will be a huge fight. I do not want to scare anyone – everyone understands everything anyway.”

In Kherson city, Explosions and fire from the ammunition depot and heavy weapons field service area Ukraine attacked on July 7, continued. Ukrainian forces destroyed another ammunition depot northeast of the water treatment plant in Kherson, on the border of Chornobaivka. There are multiple secondary explosions.

Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian bridgehead at Velyke Artakove along the Inhulets River and were unsuccessful in driving Ukraine out and could not destroy the wet crossing.

In Nova Kakhovka, Kherson, the Deputy Head of the Nova Kakhovka police, was assassinated by insurgents. Serhii Tomko was shot in his car.

Mykolaiv – In the Mykolaiv Oblast, the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade destroyed five Russian T-80 tanks using Stugnas and captured some of the tank crews.

Kharkiv – Northwest and north of Kharkiv, there were artillery exchanges and skirmishes, with neither belligerent launching offensive operations.

Southeast of Kharkiv, there was renewed fighting by Chuhuiv, with Ukrainian forces shelling the settlement of Hrakove. NASA Fire Information Resource Management System (FIRMS) suggested there was fighting in Zaliznychne.

Izyum – Southeast of Izyum, Russian forces attempted to capture Bohorodychne and lost nine Main Battle Tanks (MBT). Multiple geolocated videos visually confirmed the losses. Five Russian tanks blundered into a minefield. The other four were destroyed in an artillery barrage. Additionally, Ukrainian forces recaptured a T-72B MBT that was captured by Russian forces in April.

Russian forces shelled Krasnopilla, Dolyna, and Chepil.

South of Kramatorsk, the town of Druzhkivka was hit by Russian cruise missiles.

Near Lyman, Russian forces shelled Raihorodok again.

Daily Assessment

1. Although Russian ground forces are in an operational pause, Russian troops are maintaining pressure on Ukrainian defenses in the Donbas with artillery, rockets, air strikes, and offensive operations along the Luhansk-Donetsk border.
2. Ukraine is vigorously defending Siversk, indicating that the next battle will likely be for control of the transit hub.
3. Ukrainian forces continue to dismantle Russian command and control, ammunition, and fuel depots far behind the line of conflict, which is sapping the morale of Pro-Russian civilians who didn’t anticipate combat operations this deep into separatist regions.
4. Supply interdiction by Ukrainian forces is impacting Russian air defense capabilities in Kherson, where Ukrainian air assets have regained air dominance.

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