Southern Forces report engaging in heavy combat near Antonivsky Bridge

Heavy fighting is ongoing in the area of the destroyed Antonivsky Bridge in Kherson Oblast, according to Southern Operational Command spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk.    

She said that the emphasis is on counterbattery fire across the front line that follows the contour of the Dnipro River running through the area.  

The shape of the river has been altered by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam upstream close to a month ago.

A day earlier, the Institute for the Study of War said, citing Russian military bloggers, that the Russian forces failed to push up to 70 Ukrainians from their positions beneath the bridge on the eastern side of the river, in spite of attacking the area with Iskander ballistic missiles and infantry. Ukrainian forces used the remains of the bridge as cover.  

The Ukrainian forces are trying to deploy personnel to the eastern bank, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry's July 1 analysis.