Ukraine Summer Offensive Update for June 28: ‘I Was Ordering Pizza in a Bar. Half an Hour Later, It Was Blown to Pieces’

Snapshot

Ukrainian forces held hold their bridgehead on the left-bank of Dnipro River despite Russian airstrikes.

Near Bakhmut, Ukraine pushed the offensive for the fourth straight day along the city’s northern and southern flanks. 

Russia increased artillery shelling of population settlements to over 150 in one day. It launched a deadly S-300 missile strike on a pizzeria in downtown Kramatorsk, killing at least four and wounding more than 50.

Putin claimed that Ukraine considers the zone south of Orikhiv in western Zaporizhzhia as its “main direction of attack” – or possibly his greatest worry.

Analysis

“If Ukraine can breach the Russian defensive line of obstacles and minefields in two or three locations, it could provide multiple axes of advance to exploit and keep the Russians off balance or allow the Ukrainians to at least feint in one or more spots and tie down Russian defenders.

“At the same time, Ukrainian tanks could rapidly move to exploit their success before the Russians recognize these advances and could ideally penetrate the Russian rear area before they can deploy their reserves.

“This scenario would offer the Ukrainians the best chance they have had thus far in this war to liberate large swaths of occupied territory. But it would also in all likelihood be a long battle with significant casualties.” – US Marine Col. John B. Barranco (Ret.), senior fellow at Atlantic Council

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Zone A. TO518 / Mokri Yaly River Axis - boundary of the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions

President Zelensky visited the southern front and met with Ukrainian soldiers.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces unsuccessfully attempted to recover lost positions in recently de-occupied Rivnopil.

General Staff Spokesperson Andriy Kovalev stated that Ukrainian forces conducted successful offensive operations south of Velyka Novosilka near the administrative border, as well as south of Orikhiv in western Zaporizhzhia region.

Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted ground attacks south and southeast of Velyka Novosilka, and one prominent pro-Russian source claimed that Ukrainian forces made further gains south of Rivnopil.

A "series of six explosions" occurred in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, according to Vladimir Rogov, a collaborator with the illegal administration in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

Zone B. Western Zaporizhzhia

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine considers the Orikhiv direction in the  western Zaporizhzhia region as “the main direction of attack.” According to ISW, in so doing, Putin may have identified “the sector of the front that he perceives as most critical to hold.” ISW has observed the most extensive Russian defensive fortifications erected in the western Zaporizhzhia region south of Orikhiv.

Pro-Russian sources said that “in the Zaporizhzhia direction, a regrouping of both Russian and Ukrainian troops is underway. The units are being pulled to the line of contact in the areas of ​​Kamenka, Nesterianka and Robotyne. These areas are likely to be hot.”

At Novodarivka, Russian forces unsuccessfully attempted a counterattack, according to pro-Russian sources.

In Orikhiv, a 77-year-old man was killed, and six other elderly people were injured in Russian artillery strikes against Preobrazhenka, Zaporizhzhia regional governor Yuri Malashko said.

Zone C. Bakhmut

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said that Ukrainian forces continued offensive activities for the fourth straight day near Bakhmut. Their focus is on the northern and southern flanks of the city – at Berkhivka, Yahidne, Klishchivka, and Kurdiumivka She said the actions had “factored for the infighting between Wagner and Russian authorities.”

The General Staff said that Russian forces had unsuccessfully counterattacked and attempted to recover recently lost positions near Ivanivsk.

Other Zones & Activity, including Kherson, Avdiivka and Marinka.

According to pro-Russian sources, Ukrainian forces held their positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region near the Antonivsky Bridge. Russian forces unsuccessfully sought to dislodge them with airstrikes but were thwarted by Ukrainian S-300 air-to-surface missiles. There is allegedly the construction of pontoon crossings at the site.

In a uptick in activity, Russian forces shelled more than 150 population settlements, including 40 in the Kharkiv region, 75 in the Donetsk region, and 40 across the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. 

Four people were killed and nearly 50 injured in a Russian S-300 missile attack on a pizzeria in downtown Kramatorsk. The dead included a 15-year-old girl, and the wounded included an 8-month-old infant, a prominent writer and three foreigners.

According to pro-Russian sources, Russian forces unsuccessfully attempted to: a) counterattack at Novomykhailivka and Marinka, and; b) counterattack at Vesele near Soledar.

Russian forces undertook 20 air raids across Ukraine, according to the General Staff, as well 20 strikes using MLRS systems. It also reported 10 defensive firefights across the Lyman, Bakhmut and Marinka areas.

Russian sources, including the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), claimed that Ukrainian forces continued limited ground attacks near and south of Kreminna.