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Ukraine Project
Russian-backed separatists have intensified the scale of attacks on Ukrainian positions along the front line in Donbas undermining their recent efforts to advertise their “peaceful intentions.”
Civilian areas in both government and separatist-held areas came under increased fire this week despite a breakthrough in negotiations over the withdrawal of weapons from the front line.
Separatists continued to target Ukrainian forces with heavy weapons and small reconnaissance units across the front line in Donbas as both Ukrainian and separatist leaders combatted new internal security threats.
Russian-backed separatists continued to launch indirect fire and small probing attacks along the front line in eastern Ukraine against the backdrop of a restart in ceasefire negotiations in Minsk, Belarus on July 7.
The rapid deterioration of political negotiations between the separatist “republics” and Kyiv may trigger a military escalation by the Russian-backed forces, which continue to conduct heavy indirect fire strikes against frontline Ukrainian positions.
Russian backed Separatist forces have launched multiple unsuccessful assaults on Marinka, a Ukrainian held town near Donetsk.
Russian-backed separatists maintained heightened offensive operations along the front line in the week following the June 3 assault on Ukrainian forces west of Donetsk. Attacks intensified near the H20 and T1303 highways which respectively link the separatist-held capitals of Donetsk and Luhansk to the major government-controlled cities of Mariupol and Sievierodonetsk.
Russian-backed separatists launched an offensive maneuver on June 3 after several weeks of military buildup and an expansion from concentrated shelling to attacks across a coordinated front. Separatist combined arms forces stormed Ukrainian military positions bordering the western city districts of Donetsk.
Russian-backed separatists launched a long-anticipated offensive maneuver on June 3 that fully severed a fraying ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
The continued broadening of attacks on Ukrainian frontline positions in Donbas suggests that the Russian-backed separatists have transitioned to a new phase of offensive operations. Separatists expanded their offensive operations most ostensibly into Ukrainian-held areas south and west of the city of Donetsk.