Ukraine defends positions near Sloviansk and Mykolaivka

Southeast of the city of Slovyansk in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian troops defended or recaptured their positions against the Russian attackers. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) announced this in its current situation report.

Russian forces had previously reported that they had taken positions south of the village of Rai-Oleksandrivka. However, according to ISW, geolocated images show that the Ukrainian army controls the area.

Slovyansk is considered a strategically important city. It is part of the so-called Ukrainian defense belt in Donbass. The ISW assumes that the Russian armed forces now want to advance on the city from the east.

According to the ISW assessment, this is also due to the fact that the Ukrainian army is currently carrying out counterattacks near Lyman, northeast of Slovyansk. This is what the statements from Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers suggest.

According to the head of the military administration in Mykolaivka, east of Sloviansk, Ukrainian soldiers are said to have succeeded in removing isolated Russian soldiers from the city. He accused them of war crimes because they disguised themselves as civilians for their infiltration missions. The statements cannot be independently verified.

Meanwhile, isolated Russian troops advanced in the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions without taking control of the areas. According to ISW information, Russian soldiers are said to have infiltrated areas near Dobropillia and Novopavlivka.

Geolocated videos suggest that the units advanced west of the town of Dorozhnye and northwest of Bilyakivka.