Russian forces continue intensive efforts to advance in the Pokrovsk direction, ISW says. Ukrainian troops repel another major Russian assault in the Kurakhove direction. Russia begins to deploy North Korean self-propelled anti-tank guided missile systems in Ukraine.
Russian forces continue intensive efforts to advance in Pokrovsk direction, ISW says
Russian forces recently made confirmed advances northeast of the city of Kharkiv, in Vovchansk, near Avdiivka, and southwest of the city of Donetsk, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in a report on July 29. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report.
Russian forces have recently made significant tactical advances northwest of Avdiivka amid continued intensive efforts to advance and conduct a limited tactical encirclement of Ukrainian forces in the Pokrovsk direction (west of Avdiivka) on July 29. Geolocated footage published on July 29 shows that Russian forces hold positions in western Novoselivka Persha (northwest of Avdiivka), confirming that Russian forces recently seized the entire settlement.
Additional geolocated footage published on July 29 shows that Russian forces recently advanced up to a windbreak west of Vovche (also northwest of Avdiivka and northwest of Novoselivka Persha); west of Lozuvatske (north of Vovche); and south of Netaylove (southwest of Avdiivka). The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that elements of the Russian Central Grouping of Forces have seized Vovche, which is consistent with ISW’s control of terrain assessment in this area. Several Russian sources claimed that Russian forces have seized over half of Vesele (northwest of Avdiivka and just west of Vovche) and are moving towards Novohrodivka and Selydove (larger and more fortified settlements about 12 kilometers west of the current frontline). The Ukrainian General Staff reported a continued high rate of Russian attacks in areas northwest, west, and southwest of Avdiivka and noted that Russian forces were especially active northwest of Avdiivka near Prohres, Novooleksandrivka, Tymofiivka, and Zhelanne.
Russian forces have likely seized the entire Vovchansk Aggregate Plant in Vovchansk (northeast of Kharkiv City) and continued ground attacks in northern Kharkiv Oblast on July 29. Geolocated footage published on July 28 shows Ukrainian forces conducting a drone strike against a large pile of ordinance in the eastern part of the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant in central Vovchansk, indicating that Russian forces have likely seized the entirety of the plant. It is unclear when Russian forces seized the plant, however.
Fighting also continued near Hlyboke (north of Kharkiv City) and elsewhere within Vovchansk on July 28 and 29, and a Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces also conducted four counterattacks near Starytsya (northeast of Kharkiv City and southwest of Vovchansk).
Ukrainian troops repel another major Russian assault in Kurakhove direction
Ukrainian paratroopers of the 79th Tavria Air Assault Brigade repelled a second major Russian assault in the Kurakhove direction.
Russian forces included 10 tanks, 47 infantry fighting vehicles, 10 motorcycles and a buggy, Ukraine’s air assault forces said on Tuesday. The Russians retreated, leaving behind 12 wrecked infantry fighting vehicles, eight tanks, nine bikes and a buggy. Ukrainian paratroopers counted 36 dead Russians and 32 wounded ones.
On July 24, the 79th Tavria Air Assault Brigade said its service members had repelled one of the largest Russian assaults in the Kurakhove direction since the invasion.
The Russian force then included 11 tanks, 45 infantry fighting vehicles, a BMPT Terminator tank support fighting vehicle and 12 motorcycles.
Russia begins to deploy North Korean self-propelled anti-tank guided missile systems in Ukraine
Russia began to deploy a North Korean Bulsae-4 long-range, self-propelled anti-tank guided missile system in Ukraine. A vehicle closely resembling that weapon system was recently spotted by Ukrainian aerial surveillance in Kharkiv region, according to the KUP Telegram channel, which first posted an image of it. Bulsae-4 can hit targets beyond visual range at a distance of more than 10 kilometers.
There is almost no accurate data on specifications of North Korean weapons. It is known that the Bulsae-4 has eight missile containers in a rotating turret mounted onto an M-2010 armored personnel carrier hull. Bulsae-4 is a six-wheel drive vehicle.
“The guided missile has large stabilizers and a mode of attacking the target from above, where the armored vehicles have the thinnest armor. The missile is guided by an electro-optical head in combination with command guidance via fiber optic cable,” Militarnyi Ukrainian web site said, describing the system.
That means the target wouldn’t even need to be in direct line-of-sight of the launcher and the missile can work around minor fluctuations in terrain and man-made obstacles. This offers the operators many new tactical possibilities, including hitting targets behind cover and even finding a target’s exact location after launch.
The system can achieve high accuracy at the maximum range at the first shot.
South Korea has detected at least 10,000 shipping containers being sent from North Korea to Russia, which could hold as many as 4.8 million artillery shells, South Korea’s defense minister told Bloomberg last month.
The Historical Context and Legal Basis of Ukraine’s Neutrality. Ukraine in Flames #644
On July 16, 1990, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR adopted the “Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Ukraine,” which proclaimed the supremacy, independence, completeness, and indivisibility of the power of Ukraine within its territory. But additionally, Ukraine declared its status as a neutral state that would not participate in military blocs and undertook to adhere to three non-nuclear principles: not to use, produce, or acquire nuclear weapons. Watch Ukraine in Flames #644 to find out about the historical prerequisites for adopting the Declaration on State Sovereignty and the meaning of neutrality in the current geopolitical situation.
Guests:
- Volodymyr Butkevych, Former President of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Law, Former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights
- Oleksandr Motsyk, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for European Integration in 2004-2005, First Deputy State Secretary of Ukraine in 2005-2006, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Andrii Mahera, Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of Ukraine in 2007-2018, Constitutional Law Expert of the Center for Political and Legal Reforms