Live Updates & Analysis — Ukrainian counteroffensive gains ground on 3 fronts
Despite Russia's massive new attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue their counteroffensive. On June 13, new evidence of the advance of Ukrainian forces appeared.
On the afternoon of June 13, the spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andriy Kovaliov, reported the following data on the success of the Ukrainian military in three areas of the offensive:
Berdyansk Front
On the Berdyansk front [this likely refers to the offensive south of the village of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast in the direction of Berdyansk, where a number of villages were liberated] — Defense Forces strike group troops advanced from 500 meters to 1 kilometer over the past day, the area of territory taken under control amounted to 3 square kilometers.
Bakhmut Front
On the Bakhmut front — Ukrainian troops continue assault operations. There is a success in the area of the Berkhivka reservoir [northwest of Bakhmut] as the advance of Ukrainian forces here amounted to 250 meters over the past day.
Toretsk Front
On the Toretsk front [a town south of Bakhmut] — Ukrainian troops advanced by 200 meters.
At the same time, in the areas where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are on the defensive, not a single position was lost over the past day, though Russian forces are actively shelling with all kinds of weapons and conducting air strikes against Ukrainian defenders.
On the evening of May 12, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar reported that Ukraine's defenders had advanced 6.5 km during the offensive over the past week and liberated seven settlements (Lobkove; Levadne; Novodarivka in Zaporizhzhya Oblast, Neskuchne; Storozhove; Makarivka; Blahodatne in Donetsk Oblast).
NV is following the main developments around the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive on June 13:
4:29 pm — In the last day, 53 Russian troops were killed near Bakhmut, 118 were wounded and two were captured, reported the spokesperson of the Eastern Grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Cherevatyi during the national telethon program.
"The intensity of fighting on the Bakhmut front was lower over the last day, one combat engagement took place," said Cherevatyi.
“Nevertheless, the enemy was still actively attacking us with cannon artillery and multiple rocket launchers. They carried out one air raid.”
The Ukrainian military destroyed four ammunition depots and three vehicles that were transporting the shells.
The enemy's rotational activities in the area of Bakhmut continue, which Ukrainian troops are using to their advantage, said Cherevatyi.
"It should be noted that the enemy understands the importance of Bakhmut for them, so that’s where they first send all their airborne troops, which they use as a last resort when threatened with the loss of positions," he said.
In the Lyman-Kupyansk area, the enemy unsuccessfully tried to attack Ukrainian positions seven times over the past day, firing 505 artillery strikes and carrying out seven air raids.
"27 occupiers were killed and 75 wounded. Enemy armored vehicles were also destroyed, including an APC-80, an infantry fighting vehicle, a mortar, one Rapier anti-tank gun, and two UAVs," said the officer.
4:20 pm — Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko predicts in his column for NV that changes at the front will be slow in the near future, "if the Russian defense does not collapse."
4:14 pm — Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff clarifies information about the liquidation of the Chief of Staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Armed Forces, Major General Sergei Goryachev
"This information is being clarified. I think it will be made public properly," said Valeriy Shershen, spokesperson for the joint press center of the Defense Forces in the Tauride sector, on national television.
Shershen added that such enemy losses could potentially lead to some chaos in the enemy's ranks.
Earlier, Russian propaganda reported that the Chief of Staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Armed Forces, Major General Sergei Goryachev, had been killed. Official sources have yet to confirm.
Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsapliienko said that if this information is true, Goryachev is "one of the highest-ranking military commanders killed by Ukrainian troops since the beginning of the Russian invasion."
3:48 pm — Russians blow up local dams in areas where Ukrainian Armed Forces counterattack.
Russian troops have mined many hydraulic structures in Zaporizhzhya and Kherson oblasts, Major Vladyslav Dudar, a representative of the Environmental Safety and Mine Action Department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, said on June 13 at a roundtable discussion at the Military Media Center.
"They are now blowing small hydraulic structures in different localities every day," stated Dudar.
He noted that the consequences of these actions are not yet large-scale as each such explosion affects the agricultural land of one or two settlements, but it does happen regularly.
3:40 pm — Kyiv can force Putin to negotiating table after successful counteroffensive - Blinken
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is convinced that “Ukraine's success in the counteroffensive would do two things.”
"It would strengthen its position at any negotiating table that emerges, and it may have the effect, as well, of actually causing Putin to finally focus on negotiating an end to the war that he started," Blinken said.
The Secretary of State added that a successful counteroffensive could bring peace to Ukraine.
3:27 pm — Lone Russian soldier on the run as Ukrainian forces retake Blahodatne village.
3:12 pm — Ukrainian counterattack or feint? Conflict expert says more combat expected soon.
Oleksandr Kovalenko, military and political observer at the Information Resistance group, believes that the events within the Ukrainian Armed Forces offensive can be more likely called reconnaissance "at maximum." "Why exactly? Because small assault mobile groups of the Armed Forces continue to operate, but quite successfully," he noted.
3:05 pm — Russians disgraced themselves with a fake about the alleged surrender of an entire "platoon of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" together with an infantry fighting vehicle – video.
Russian propagandists have once again disgraced themselves by trying to convince their citizens of the mass desertion of the "Ukrainian military".
2:25 pm — "The situation remains difficult." Ukrainian military comments on Ukrainian Armed Forces advance on Zaporizhzhya front.
The situation on the Zaporizhzhya front is tense, the rains are hampering the infantry and may force troops to make adjustments to their movement, Svoboda Legion fighter Kostiantyn Denysov told Radio Liberty.
"The situation there remains complicated and tense," he said. “There are movements in certain areas in our favor.”
The Russian military "dug in very well, but this line of defense can be broken through," he said.
2:03 pm — Russian troops are trying to regain control of the liberated Makarivka by wiping the village off the map, the spokesperson for the Joint Press Center of the Tauride Defense Forces Valeriy Shershen said.
"The Russian invaders are trying to regain control of the de-occupied village of Makarivka (by) wiping it off the map — using aviation, artillery, and even attempts to use Solntsepek," noted Shershen.
He clarified that stabilization efforts are underway in Makarivka.
1:53 pm — "The plan is working so far". How the Ukrainian Armed Forces will force Russians to retreat from Melitopol, Berdyansk and Tokmak — Zhyrokhov
Military expert Mykhailo Zhyrokhov discussed on Radio NV the goals of Ukraine's Armed Forces during their offensive against Russian occupation forces.
“One of the elements of the offensive plan, as I understand it, is to limit the possibility of street fighting," Zhyrokhov explains.
“That is, the [Ukrainian Armed Forces will carry out] flanking attacks that will [force] the Russians to make a 'gesture of goodwill'. There is no such scenario in [the plans of] our General Staff as to fight in the urban areas of Melitopol, Berdyansk, or even Tokmak.”
1:30 pm — Ukrainian offensive and Russian lies. Expert opines on what to prepare for.
Oleksiy Melnyk, Co-Director of Foreign Policy and International Security Programs at the Razumkov Center think tank, in an interview with NV, advised how to respond to the barrage of information about the Ukrainian offensive.
1:10 pm — Bakhmut front: Ukrainian Armed Forces are advancing, enemy is losing ground on the flanks - General Syrskyi
This was reported by the Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, on June 13.
Syrskyi pointed out that according to the UK Ministry of Defense, Russia lost a soldier for every 48 cm of ground in Bakhmut.
12:51 pm — The Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed six Russian anti-aircraft missile systems over the past day, the Military Media Center reported on June 13. Over the past day, Ukrainian defense aviation carried out nine strikes on clusters of Russian personnel and four strikes on enemy anti-aircraft missile systems.
Missile and artillery units struck three control points, two anti-aircraft missile systems, an area of enemy concentration, and three artillery units in firing positions.
12:15 pm — Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive: Ministry of Defense names six settlements where fighting continues.
On the morning of June 13, as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive, fighting continues in the vicinity of six settlements, reported Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar on Telegram.
The fighting continues in four sectors:
— Mala Tokmachka, Novodanylivka, near Makarivka on the Orikhiv front (Zaporizhzhya Oblast)
— Maryinka (Donetsk Oblast)
— Yahidne on the Bakhmut front (Donetsk Oblast)
— Vesele on the Lyman front (Donetsk Oblast)
"Our troops are facing continuous minefields combined with anti-tank trenches during the offensive," Malyar said as she outlined the difficulties of the offensive for the Ukrainian military.
“All of this is combined with constant counterattacks by enemy units on armored vehicles and the massive use of ATGMs and kamikaze drones.”
11:06 am — "Far outnumber ours". Chief Sergeant of Magura Brigade reports on enemy losses on the Zaporizhzhya front
Although the Russian troops are on the defensive, they suffer significant losses on the Zaporizhzhya front, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are advancing, reports Valeriy Markus, chief sergeant of the 47th Magura Brigade.
In an emotional video message on social media, Markus urged Ukrainians not to trust the statements of Russian sources about Ukraine's offensive. Markus added that the Russian forces brought more than 100 of their dead to the temporarily occupied Tokmak from the Zaporizhzhya axis.
In just a few days, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed 15 enemy tanks, two TOS-1A Solntsepek systems, and many infantry fighting vehicles, he said.
"We are on the offensive, they are on the defensive, and their losses far outnumber ours," he emphasized, citing examples of Russian lies about the losses of the 47th Brigade.
10:42 am — First results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The aggressor justifies its failures with rain, Russian Defense Ministry seeks to subdue Prigozhin's forces - ISW
The new territorial gains of Ukrainian forces in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya oblasts have geolocated confirmation, while Russia’s claims of attempts to counterattack the Ukrainian Armed Forces in these areas of the front have not yet been confirmed, according to a new report by the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War.
10:38 am — The White House has refused to assess the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The White House has so far refused to assess the Ukrainian counteroffensive but confirmed the start of such operations.
"Look, offensive operations — combat is happening," said John Kirby, coordinator of the White House National Security Council, at a briefing.
“There’s no question about that. But it’s up to President Zelenskyy to characterize it, not us.”
10:27 am — United States to give Ukraine new Bradleys and Strykers to replace those lost during counteroffensive — media.
The United States will provide Ukraine with additional military assistance worth up to $325 million. The list will include equipment that can replace those damaged and destroyed during the counteroffensive, Voice of America reports, citing two Pentagon officials.
Stryker armored personnel carriers and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles are on the list. The package will also include ammunition for NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems and rockets for HIMARS.
9:58 am — Marines show how they liberated Makarivka in Donetsk Oblast — video
The video was posted on the Facebook page of the Rear Admiral Mykhailo Ostrohradskyi 35th Separate Marine Brigade.
During the clearing of the settlement, some Russian troops were killed and some were taken prisoner. Others fled through the fields and their escape was recorded by a drone.
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