The Institute for the Study of War cited Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar who said on June 14 that Ukrainian troops have made gains, advancing between 200 to 500 meters in unspecified sectors of the Bakhmut front and 300 to 350 meters in unspecified parts of the Zaporizhzhia direction.
The ISW also noted that Ukrainian forces are continuing counterattacks on the northwestern, northeastern, and southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut. Ukrainian and Russian sources additionally reported that fighting continued in western Donetsk Oblast, particularly around Makarivka (directly south of Velyka Novosilka), and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast south of Orikhiv.
Russian military bloggers speculated that heavy rain and poor weather in southern Ukraine may have decreased the tempo of Ukrainian attacks, but Maliar emphasized that weather conditions do not always have an impact of Ukrainian offensive actions.
Ukrainian Tavrisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Valery Shershen said that Ukrainian forces in the Zaporizhzhia direction are prioritizing strikes on Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems, and ISW has previously assessed that Russian EW capabilities "have been critical in complicating Ukrainian attacks on this sector of the front."
U.S. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh also affirmed the United States’ commitment to partially replacing Ukrainian losses of the U.S.-provided equipment used in counteroffensive operations but noted that there may not be a one-for-one replacement ratio.
Francis Farrell
