The village of Dachne within the southern a part of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast seems to be contested, in keeping with the Finnish Black Chicken Group open-source intelligence collective.
The Russian Protection Ministry on July 7 claimed to have seized Dachne, which might mark the primary village to be beneath Russian management within the industrial Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, situated simply west of the war-torn Donetsk Oblast.
The Ukrainian army denied the claimed seize, calling it "disinformation."
Viktor Tregubov, spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces, stated that Dachne is beneath Ukrainian management as of the morning of July 8, with the thirty seventh Marine Brigade firmly holding onto it.
Tregubov instructed the Kyiv Impartial that Russian troops have been making an attempt to realize a foothold on Dachne's outskirts, counting on fast-paced assaults alongside the roads utilizing mild tools, similar to bikes.
Russia's declare over the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast village — a area that didn’t endure preventing till June — comes as Moscow steps up its offensives in a number of sectors throughout the entrance. After launching an offensive marketing campaign within the spring, Russian troops opened a brand new entrance within the northeastern Sumy Oblast by capturing some border villages and steadily gained floor within the jap Donetsk Oblast.
With many Ukrainian items worn out after preventing for over three years with little day off the entrance because of manpower scarcity, it has been more and more powerful to carry the entrance.
Emil Kastehelmi, a army analyst with the Black Chicken Group, stated that although Russian troops seem to have entered Dachne "sooner or later," it’s doubtless a grey zone, with neither facet controlling it since it’s too harmful to get in.
The thirty seventh brigade on July 6 posted a video on Fb, the place its troopers from the 2nd battalion have been apparently elevating a flag in Dachne. Kastehelmi stated that the video seems to point out that the Ukrainians managed to enter at the least the northern a part of the village.
Moving into Dachne and holding it’s doubtless troublesome for each side, because the village is situated on decrease floor than the encompassing areas, in keeping with the skilled.
"The Russians must do some form of a stronger assault to seize the Ukrainian positions on high of the attain line in an effort to acquire a stable presence within the village," Kastehelmi instructed the Kyiv Impartial, including that the village has been contested for over every week.
"In all probability the Ukrainians have at the least good positions to defend within the space, however then once more, staying within the village could also be lethal for troopers, as Russians can already enter it at the least with these small patrols or squads."
Whereas Western army specialists have doubted {that a} single village or a number of in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast maintain army values, they imagine it could be politically necessary for Moscow to safe progress in a brand new Ukrainian area.
By making an attempt to maneuver deeper into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Russia seems to be eyeing widening its southern flank in an ongoing assault on Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, situated close by. Somewhat than storming straight into these key cities or cities, Moscow has relied on first encircling them from a number of sides to make it as troublesome as potential for Ukraine to maintain the logistics roots working.
Kastehelmi stated that Russian troops have been advancing towards the border between Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk oblasts "comparatively shortly" since June. However he identified that it’s an space the place Ukraine might "change land for Russian males and tools" as a result of Russia advancing ahead on this border space gained't considerably have an effect on the general front-line scenario.
It additionally seems that Russia is trying to find a spotlight space for a "concentrated push," spreading its troops extensively.
"(This) then results in a scenario the place it could be troublesome for them to truly obtain something decisive shortly," Kastehelmi stated.
The Kyiv IndependentVolodymyr Ivanyshyn