The Ukrainian forces have conducted a successful limited counterattack near the Kherson-Mykolaiv region border, forcing Russia onto the defensive, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports.
This counterattack may disrupt Russian efforts to establish strong defensive positions in southern Ukraine, the ISW notes.
“While the Ukrainian counterattack does not appear likely to retake substantial territory in the near term, it will likely disrupt Russian operations and potentially force Russia to deploy reinforcements to the Kherson region, which is predominantly held by sub-standard units. Ukrainian counterattacks may additionally slow Russian efforts to consolidate administrative control of occupied southern Ukraine,” the institute stated.
According to ISW experts, Russian forces continued to storm Sievierodonetsk on 29 May, however, the institute did not record any confirmed advances of the Russian army. Experts suggest that the Russian campaign in eastern Ukraine, which previously aimed to capture the entirety of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, is now focused almost entirely on Sievierodonetsk.
“Russian troops are unlikely to be able to conduct multiple simultaneous operations and will likely further deprioritize advances southeast of Izyum and west of Lyman in favor of concentrating available forces on Severodonetsk in the coming days,” the ISW added.
On 29 May, Russian forces shelled several localities in the area of Kharkiv, and continued their offensive to the west of the administrative border of the Luhansk region, to cut off Ukrainian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) to the northeast of Bakhmut, the institute reports.
In the early hours of 30 May, explosions were reported in several Ukrainian cities. Russian troops shelled the city of Novyi Buh in the Mykolaiv region, damaging the centre of the city, the Novyi Buh city council informed. Local officials also reported blasts in the Sumy and Odesa regions.
