Ukraine advances in east and south with more ‘partial success’ even as rain muddies battlefield

Changing weather conditions to hinder reconnaissance drone operations for Russia and Ukraine alike

Ukrainian soldiers fighting off Russian attacks in the eastern battlefield achieved “partial success” in the past 24 hours while troops in southern Ukraine inflicted over a hundred Russian casualties, officials said as the war was close to clocking 600 days.

The troops secured partial success near Andriivka, a small Ukrainian village captured last month along with the nearby locality of Klishhiivka, said Ilia Yevlash, a spokesperson for Ukraine‘s eastern group of forces.

"We are repelling constant attacks near Klishchiivka and Andriivka,” the spokesperson told national television.

"Every day we are making headway in the Bakhmut sector. We are talking about hundreds of metres at a time that we are liberating from our enemies and strengthening our positions. It is, however, too early to talk about achieving concrete goals,” he said.

The “partial” headway in territorial advance was also reported in southern Ukraine by general Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of forces in the south.

“We have partial success west of Verbove. During the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out eight airstrikes, 18 combat encounters, and also launched 455 artillery barrages,” the top military official said on his Telegram channel.

Verbove is one of the cluster of villages that Ukraine is targeting, with the larger town of Tokmak as the next large target.

The Ukrainian units of rocket troops and artillery from the Tavria Air Defence Forces launched 795 fire missions during the day, he said.

“The total losses of the enemy amounted to 147 people,” he said but did not give details about the injuries, deaths, and capture of Russian soldiers as prisoners of war. Three Russian ammunition depots were also bombed, along with two tanks and an artillery system, he said.

This comes amid first signs of deterioration in battlefield conditions due to weather as Russian military bloggers said rainfall has worsened visibility in southern Ukraine.

Experts monitoring the war said changing weather conditions will hinder the reconnaissance drone operations on both sides.

“One Russian milblogger claimed that the ground has become muddy and obstructs tracked vehicle movement, though another milblogger claimed that the ground has not yet become muddy enough to inhibit vehicle movement,” said the Institute for the Study of War in its latest assessment on Monday.

It added that exact conditions likely vary along the frontline, though weather conditions are generally worsening.It cited Yevlash’s report stating that the Russian forces are relying less heavily on aviation and drone activity in the Kupiansk-Lyman direction due to heavy rainfall.

The Russian accounts of fighting claimed its forces thwarted Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut and inflicted heavy casualties in strikes on Ukrainian positions outside the city.

Now on the edge of entering its fifth month, Ukraine’s counteroffensive aims to secure control of areas around Bakhmut in order to recapture the town, which was seized by Russian forces in May after months of heavy battles.