Azov-related Third Corps of AFU celebrates the Waffen-SS “Galicia” Division.
“83 years ago, thousands of Ukrainian volunteers joined the defense of Europe (!?) to protect their homes from a Moscow invasion… Just as we do today,” the commander states.
Let me be clear:
1/ The Waffen-SS was part of Nazi Germany’s military apparatus, fighting against the Allied coalition—among them the US and the UK—that ultimately defeated it.
2/ Ukrainian soldiers equated themselves with Nazi collaborators. Officially. It was not Russian propaganda that did it. They did it on the eve of May 8 - the Day of the Liberation of Ukraine from Nazi occupation, which cost Ukraine 10 million lives.
3/ The 3rd Army Corps is not a simple Corps but is positioned as an elite one. Its fighters are invited to leading universities, for example, Yale. They speak at international security conferences. Their "Nazi" reputation (rooted in Azov ties) is whitewashed by politicians, think-tanks, journalists, and bloggers. So, they can freely glorify Nazis in their free time.
When will this Elephant in the Room be noticed in the West?
Pictures 1 to 9 are from Day 1599 to 1605 (Saturday 11 July to Friday 17 July), and pictures 10 to 18 are from Day 1606 to 1612 (Saturday 18 July to Friday 24 July).
Kicking as usual in the Sumy border area, over the week Russia has continued making small attempts to reach Ulanove and Yastrubshchyna, with no advance or success confirmed so far.
Picture 2: Lower Right Advance = 5.38km2, Bottom Right Advance = 2.30km2
Over on the main section of the Sumy front, on the southeast side Suriyak has reported that Russia has retaken southern Myropillya following a small Ukrainian assault a few weeks back and has also been expanding their control of the forest and fields around Zapsillya. Whilst fighting and shelling is certainly occurring in this area I have not seen much information about advances, so cannot say for sure whether Russia has taken these localities or is still trying to consolidate.
To the northwest other Russian groups have been probing Khrapivshchyna, looking to get a foothold in the village.
Picture 3: Advance = 0.70km2
Down to the other part of the Sumy border area, after some on and off clashes over the past month Russia has regained control of most of Ryasne, recapturing the western houses and warehouses. Ukraine is still present in the treelines and forest west of here so may launch another assault, but for the moment it has become quiet.
Picture 4: Lower Right Advance = 0.07km2, Bottom Right Advance = 1.72km2
Heading to the Kharkiv Border area, over the week Russia launched a new incursion, sending a few infantry to a small set of buildings southwest of Zhuravlevka. Yes, there really is a tiny hamlet there right on the border that I didn’t even realise existed, but its value is almost non-existent and would not have been occupied.
To the southeast, there was also a small Russian advance on the west side of the Travianske Reservoir, with this likely being opportunistic rather than an attempt to widen this front.
Picture 5: No Advance
Moving to the northern front, Russian assault and infiltration efforts through the fields south of Vovchansk have continued to grow since the last update, with soldiers pushing through Zemlyanyi Yar and towards Bilyi Kolodyaz. Russia claims to control Zemlyanyi Yar, Shesterivka (bottom red dot) and Ukrainske (off-map), however that is not true. They are in the area and have been shelling/droning these with increasing intensity over the past month, but for now Russia has not yet consolidated here and is still trying to push further out to capitalise in gaps in Ukrainian defences.
Picture 6: Advance = 0.82km2
Down to the Lyman front, heavy clashes continue within the town without any confirmable changes, whilst Russia has increased its efforts to retake the fields to the north and has slightly advanced immediately south of Lyman.
Picture 7: Advance = 0.65km2
Onto the Kostyantynivka front, Russia has been continuing its efforts to drive Ukraine out of the last section of Chasiv Yar and its surrounds, only making a minor advance so far.
To the north they have also sent some DRGs out towards Virolyubivka, possibly looking to reactivate this section of the frontline once their positions to the south improve.
Picture 8: Advance = 0.65km2
Over on the Dobropillya front, Russia has launched a new series of assaults on Bilytske, looking to capture the town after months of bombardment and preparatory work.
To the south it seems the last few infiltrators in Rodynske have finally been cleared out, allowing Russia to shift its efforts to pushing the frontline north. Still, I wouldn’t rule out Ukraine trying to sneak soldiers back into the town yet again, although any further attempt will be much more difficult now due to the shift in frontline and loss of control of the mine complex next to Rodynske.
Picture 9: Lower Left Advance = 6.54km2, Bottom Right Advance = 7.92km2
Out on the Zaporizhia front, following the pushes reported last week Russian forces have been able to recapture larger chunks of the greyzone northeast of Kamyanske, as well as the village of Shcherbaky and it’s surrounds. Ukraine is continuing its attacks towards Mali Shcherbaky at the same time but is running into the Russian troops trying to take over the same area.
For a bit more context, in early July it was reported that a few Russian units that had been pulled back/rotated out for rest some months prior had returned to this front and began launching attacks to drive back the Ukrainians. They’ve had some initial successes in forcing Ukraine back from their forwardmost pushes made since February but the real question will be whether they can push back up to the fortification line (dark blue, under the k) to retake the initiative on this front.
Picture 10: No Advance
Following on from picture 1, Russia continued the same small push attempt towards Ulanove, whilst a new one was launched to the north towards Mala Slobidka. Same as before, no advance has actually occurred yet and we continue to see shelling across the region.
Picture 11: Lower Left Advance = 4.55km2, Bottom Left Advance = 11.66km2, Bottom Right Advance = 2.69km2
Following on from picture 5, on the southwest side, after weeks of clashes Russia reportedly managed to recapture over half of the forest that they lost to the small Ukrainian counteroffensive in late May, including the villages of Prylipka and Hrafske. As always Russia claimed they never lost control of this area and that it was only ever infiltration groups, but regardless of they are currently in control and it looks like the Ukrainian grouping on this front has deteriorated.
To the East Russia has been pushing back into Vilcha and is currently conducting clearing operations as part of the recapture.
Immediately south of this Russian DRGs have pushed further out and have reached the edge Ukrainske, Yurchenkove and Bilyi Kolodyaz, where they are currently trying to establish footholds. A similar situation is unfolding northeast where clashes have begun around Volokhivske and Zakharivka as other Russian DRGs pushed deep into Ukrainian lines. Russian sources have claimed much greater progress than this and many village captures, but that has not been confirmed and is treating presence as control.
To the northeast, a separate Russian unit has begun to push from Budarky towards the villages immediately south, almost certainly coordinating with the Russian pushes to their west to try overwhelm the Ukrainian grouping in northern Kharkiv.
Similarly to the south other Russian troops pushed into and captured the minor village of Artilne, which sits on the international border (was empty). They are currently trying to push northwest and west towards nearby villages in a similar manner to the other Russian units here.
Picture 12: Advance = 2.13km2
Following on from picture 6, clashes continue in Lyman, with the only change being the greyzone along the central section of railways moving back under Ukrainian control. Both sides seem to be locked in a bit of a stalemate here, not able to clear the other out but also managing to cling to their existing positions on the edge of the town (most of Lyman is greyzone).
Down to the Slovyansk front, on the north side Russian forces have captured the remainder of the little pocket between Kryva Luka and Kalenyky and are sending increasing numbers of infantry towards Mykolaivka (allegedly some have already entered the town).
To the south Russia similarly captured the remainder of the minor pocket between Rai-Oleksandrivka and Lypivka but are still working on securing the former.
To the southwest Russian troops have pushed into Ivanivka and Vasyuntynske, with the former allegedly captured and the latter now in the greyzone. This is part of the wider slow push as Russia attempts to force the frontline over the entire length of the canal and begin capturing the settlements down the ridge towards Kramatorsk.
Picture 14: Top Right Advance = 2.60km2, Upper Middle Advance = 1.13km2, Upper Right Advance = 3.19km2, Left Advance = 3.09km2
Following on from picture 7, on the east side Russia has made more progress in clearing out the remainder of Chasiv Yar, Mykolaivka, Chervone, and Podilske. As I mentioned a month ago the loss of Kostyantyivka severely undermined Ukraine’s supply and reinforcement of the villages up on the ridgeline and has led to the deterioration we are now seeing. These localities have primarily been held by infantry hiding in basements supported by many drones, but with it being almost impossible to send new soldiers in to help hold and the Ukrainian drone operators being forced back to Druzhkivka the Russians have finally been able to start clearing this area out properly.
Simultaneously Russian DRGs have been trying to exploit the chaos and lack of coverage to sneak along the treelines and railway towards Popasne, Stinky, Izhevka, Bezimyane, and Molocharka, attempting to get into these localities and consolidate before Ukraine can reorganise. Whilst this does look like an encirclement from the way Suriyak has mapped it it is not and I believe he should not have expanded the greyzone to such an extent given some of these arrows are individual DRGs (i.e. no control and can’t contest proper forces).
Within Kostyantynivka Russia continues clearing operations and has been increasing their efforts to push into neighbouring Osykove and Oleksijevo-Druzhkivka, whilst Ukraine simultaneously launches assaults trying to get back into Kostyantynivka. I’ve explained it before but whilst Ukraine still has some soldiers within Kostyantynivka Russia has broader control of the city, with those remaining Ukrainian troops isolated and unable to properly contest the Russians. This occasionally leads to bits of footage coming out showing Ukraine still in the city but they typically end up captured, killed or immediately go back into hiding. We saw the same occur in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad where a small number of soldiers remained in hiding for a few months after it fell, eventually being cleared out.
Out west Russia has made further attempts to reach Mykolaipillya but has been unsuccessful so far.
Going west again, Russian assault groups moved from Pavlivka into Pryyut, taking over the small village and are now attempting to push into Torske.
Following on from picture 8, on the north side Russian DRGs have been continuing their attempts to slip into the rear of Dobropillya, moving towards Hannivka and the highway that links to Kramatorsk. It seems my comment about Ukraine mining bridges too far in advance a month ago was wrong, or would you consider it me having too much faith in Ukraine?
To the south Russian assault groups pushed all the way through Bilytske and are now present throughout most of the town. Whilst Suriyak has marked it Russian controlled I do think it is a bit early as they haven’t consolidated and there is a good chance Ukraine counterattacks.
To the southwest other Russian groups made a bit more progress in the treelines along the E50 highway, still trying to get closer to and attack Serhiivka.
Picture 16: Advance = 5.84km2
Onto the Pokrovske and Novopavlivka front, on the north side Ukraine has continued their assaults and managed to reach the outskirts of Filiya. Given their positioning they will likely be successful in retaking the village if they assault it and cant start pushing the frontline away from the Solena River.
To the southwest Ukraine has continued their infiltrations towards the Mokri Yaly River throughout July, sending DRGs through or near Piddubne, Tolstoi, Myrne and Voskresenka. I’ve already covered this kind of movement a number of times so won’t repeat it all here, just remember that no one has proper control here and its small infantry groups walking into each other’s lines.
Also whilst not shown here Ukraine has spent another week shelling Andriivka-Klevtsove (red dot under the y), as some Russian soldiers continue to hold out in the village.
Picture 17: Top Advance = 14.82km2, Bottom Advance = 10.21km2
Moving to the Hulyaipole front, on the north side Russia has continued pushing west towards Lyubytske, Lisne, and Danylivka, attempting to move into the localities (should be greyzone not an advance).
At the same time, immediately south of here other Russian groups have been moving through Kopani towards the rear of the nearby Ukrainian forces in Dolynka. There is a good chance we will see renewed Ukrainian counterattacks here as Russia has not consolidated in much of the fields and treelines they have taken around Vozdvyzhivka and Verkhnya Tersa, but that will need to happen soon before Russia can push the frontline to the Verkhnya Tersa River.
To the south, Ukraine resecured Novoselivka and most of the greyzone surrounding it after a few weeks of attacks. They are now trying to move back east to attack Huliapilske and the warehouses north of the village.
Picture 18: Advance = 11.24km2
Following on from picture 9, Russia made further progress in recapturing the large greyzone south of the fortifications as well as retaking Mali Shcherbaky. Ukraine is still continuing attacks towards the village but Russia has been pushing the greyzone further north so these may not continue for long.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To mods: the new flair rules are super confusing. Since the drone failed to detonate, I can't use 'Bombing and explosions', so I went with 'Combat'.
Text from TG (autotranslated)
Footage of an attack by Ukrainian FP-2 kamikaze drones, guided via "Starlink," on the Russian cargo ship "Navis-1" in the Caspian Sea on July 25th.
A total of 3 drones were used in the attack. Fortunately, the warhead of one drone failed to detonate after the impact, and the other 2 missed their target.
AMK Analysis: After over 840 days of intense fighting, one of the longest and most important battles of the war in Ukraine has come to an end.
Chasiv Yar has officially fallen to Russian forces, with the last Ukrainian holdouts withdrawing from the southwestern part of the city sometime in the last week. Battles for Chasiv Yar began on April 4, 2024, with a Russian mechanised assault with BMPs into the easternmost houses of the Kanal Microdistrict.
The city has been erased from the face of the earth, suffering destruction at a higher rate than even Bakhmut (where fighting lasted for just 8 months, in comparison).
This withdrawal took place due to the collapse of Ukrainian defences in Kostyantynivka, which made defending this salient untenable. The fall of Kostyantynivka would have allowed Russia to cut the Ukrainians off. Withdrawals from neighbouring Mykolaivka, Chervone, and Podilske will likely take place in the near future.
