The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opposed negotiations with Moscow and any ceasefire scenario. In Russia, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the suspension of a number of provisions of tax treaties with the US, EU countries and other states that Moscow now considers hostile.
Kiev’s attempt to attack Moscow’s ‘western’ towers fails. At 4am on 9 August, yet another drone attack is rejected.
According to the French Ministry of Defence. The general situation on the Ukrainian-Russian line of contact at midnight on 7 August looked like this: ‘The Ukrainian armed forces inflicted several attacks on the RF armed forces in the Black Sea: on 4 August a warship was attacked in Novorossiysk, on 5 August an oil tanker and there were also attacks on the Chongar bridge. The Russian armed forces responded with attacks deep inside the territory of Ukraine. On the ground, the RF Armed Forces maintain the initiative on the Eastern Front and the Armed Forces of Ukraine – on the Southern Front’. And then the specific note: on the North-Eastern Front: “The RF Armed Forces continue their offensive in the direction of Kupyansk and repel Ukrainian counter-attacks in the Svatove area”. Central-Eastern area: ‘The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to direct their efforts in the direction of Bachmut, while both sides have intensified UAV and artillery duels’. Southeastern front: ‘The Armed Forces of Ukraine are attacking in the area of Rabotino and Velikaya Novoselovka. In the Kherson region without significant changes’.
The Ukrainian Defence Forces’ confirmed losses of NATO armoured vehicles are: 8 Leopard 2А6; 6 Leopard 2А4; 47 M2Bradley; 4 AMX-10RC; 2CV90.
Not only that, the Armed Forces of Ukraine report that on 6 August the company commander of the 128th troop brigade (Dnepropetrovsk), Lieutenant Andrei Veremienko, was killed in battle.
Contrary to what the French write, in the Kherson direction the situation is unclear. According to pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian social sources, the Ukrainians landed troops on the left bank in the area of the settlement of the Cossack camps. Other sources report that there was an alleged landing attempt and the landing was blocked.
Finally, Russian military sources state that the situation at 1 p.m. on 8 August 2023 in the direction of Kherson was as follows: ‘Due to the distraction to other directions, the situation along the Dnepr disappeared from public view. For several months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continued to fire on the left bank, covering the actions of the reconnaissance groups on the boats.
However, after the replacement of the units of the airborne forces, which had been operating there for a long time, the attacks on the Russian positions intensified with new formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The aim here is simple: to exploit the inexperience and ignorance of the arrival situation to create a bridgehead on the left bank’.
The account continues: ‘At night, seven Ukrainian boats landed up to seven DRGs of 6-7 people each after setting up a smoke screen west of the Cossack camps. The Ukrainian groups took advantage of the frontline substitution and struck from the flank, reaching a settlement on the banks of the Dnepr’.
This allowed the Ukrainian forces to disembark and advance freely towards the camps, whereupon the Russian troops intercepted them and pushed them back. The source writes: ‘According to colleagues from this direction, the Ukrainian forces have returned to the right bank. And this is not the only area where the Ukrainians have not tried to gain a foothold in recent days. According to D.M., there have also been exchanges of fire near the railway bridge at Peschanovka, where the Russian forces have had ‘little tactical success’.
Ukrainian forces are reported to be active near the Antonovsky Bridge. The day before, the Ukrainian command sent two boats to replace units in the area. One of the boats was hit and turned back, and the other was landed by the DRG but destroyed by fire.
In the Golopristan sector, three Ukrainian military boats with 15 people on board attempted to set up an observation post on Domakhsky Island. Under artillery fire, the boats returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory. One of the boats escaped the fire and two were damaged and blown up by mines.
And now a look at the front line from the social sphere, updated at 08:00 on 9 August. In the direction of Zaporizhia, the Ukrainians continued to attack in the Orekhov sector, but made no significant progress towards Pyatikhatki and Rabotino. The attack on 7 August also failed. Neither a further change in tactics nor the massive use of cluster munitions helped to reverse the negative trends for the Ukrainian forces.
On the Vremyevsky ridge, the fighting in Staromaiorske continues: the Ukrainians control the northern part of the village and are trying to extend the zone of control around the village in order to intensively attack the adjacent high ground controlled by the RF Army. The Ukrainian forces are trying to solve the problem that has arisen in Staromaiorske by attacking Urozhaine, which is controlled by the RF forces, and are not allowing the Ukrainian military, which relies on Staromaiorske and Urozhaine, to develop an offensive against Staromlynovka. As a result, the Ukrainian offensive here has also stalled, although in the last 24 hours the Ukrainians have managed to hold out for a while on the outskirts of Urozhaine.
Vulehedar direction – no significant changes. Positional battles continue, with periodic local attempts by the parties to improve their position in the landings and dacha area.
Towards Marinka – no significant changes. In the western part of the city the front, in the area of “Zvirinets” and near Krasnogorovka in the area of the ventilation shaft of the Trudovskaya mine – no significant changes.
In the Avdiivka area, positional fighting continues with periodic attacks from the sides near Vodyany, Pervomaisky and Severny, as well as near Nevelskoye, where the Russians have recently managed to advance towards the village (though they are still far from taking Nevelskoye). Fighting continues to the west of Krasnogorovka, and Russian forces have taken up new positions in the Kamenka area, from where they have recently pushed back Ukrainian forces. There is still no operational encirclement of Avdiivka, despite the shelling of the road from Orlivka.
In the Bachmut area, the RF forces continued to repel Ukrainian attacks in the direction of Dubovo-Vasilyevka, Berkhovka, Kleshcheevka, Andriivka and Kurdyumovka. One report said of Bachmut: ‘Despite titanic efforts and reserves transferred here, Syrsky still cannot agree to announce at least a tactical success. The resilience of the Russian troops and the huge Ukrainian losses have changed the Ukrainian plans for the rapid capture of Bachmut and they are now at a standstill’. The Ukrainians are attempting to operate with DRG forces in the area of the dachas on the south-western outskirts of Bachmut – here the situation is generally controlled, the Ukrainians do not have forces for a direct assault on the town from the west.
On the Seversky Ledge – generally no change. Ukrainian attacks towards Soledar have stopped. Russian troops continue to engage in positional battles in the area of Disputable and Belogorovka, but again no significant Russian advances.
The successful offensive of the Russian troops continued in the direction of Svatove. Novoselivka has been pressed, which opens up opportunities for a further offensive against Kupyansk not only from the north and north-east, but also from the east and south-east. Control of Novoselivka removes the threat from Kuzemovka and drastically reduces Ukrainian prospects in the direction of Svatove. The Russian advance towards Oskol also continues at an average speed of 1-1.5 km per day. The day before yesterday – 3 km. The Ukrainians continue to overcome the reserves to strengthen the regrouping in the Kupyansk area and in the Svatove direction as a whole. Pressure grows in the Sinkovka area.
In the Liman direction, the Ukrainians still maintain positions in the area of Torskoye and Yampolovka, periodically engaging in counter-attacks. In addition, the Ukrainian military maintains defence in the western and southwestern parts of the forest area west of Kreminna.
But the real breakthrough according to these social sources will come from the Zaporizhzhie front next week.
Graziella Giangiulio
