Ukraine Has Liberated 12.7 Kms This Week Towards Berdiansk and Melitopol

It is too early to declare breakthroughs but reports of more successful advances in the last week - both in the east around Bakhmut and, crucially, in the south towards Berdiansk and Melitopol - suggest that Ukrainian forces are finding their new incremental tactics are wearing down Russian defenders. in both sectors JL 

Howard Altman reports in The Drive:

The Russian Operation Z Telegram channel acknowledged that Ukrainian forces have broken through around Klischiivka. (And) as Ukrainian forces push south in Zaporizhzhia Oblast toward Berdiansk and Melitopol, they’ve liberated 12.7 square kilometers this week and nearly 200 square kilometers since the counteroffensive began early last month. “Ukraine has already regained somewhere around 45% of its territory. So, has already been incredibly successful in regaining territory that Russia had temporarily occupied.”

The Russian Operation Z Telegram channel on Sunday acknowledged that Ukrainian forces have broken through around Klischiivka.

Meanwhile, as Ukrainian forces push south in Zaporizhzhia Oblast toward Berdiansk and Melitopol, they’ve liberated 12.7 square kilometers this week and nearly 200 square kilometers since the counteroffensive began early last month.

During a press briefing Monday, Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman said “Ukraine has already regained – if you include Crimea, it’s somewhere around 45 percent of its territory. So, Ukraine has already been incredibly successful in regaining territory that Russia had temporarily occupied.”

Miller would not comment on the status of the counteroffensive, but said “Ukraine has everything it needs to conduct this counteroffensive. We have supplied them with an enormous amount of military equipment, as have our allies and partners both in Europe and around the world, and we will continue to do so.”

And more aid, he said, is on the way.

“You can expect further announcements of military assistance in the coming days,” he said. “We will continue to stand strong with NATO, as it conducts this counteroffensive."

Whether the Russian push in Kharkiv gains traction and adversely affects Ukraine's counteroffensive still remains to be seen. But it is worth monitoring closely and we will update this story when warranted.