Ukrainian troops continued counteroffensive actions on at least three sections of the front and advanced in the western part of Zaporizhzhya region and on the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya regions border, including liberating the village of Urozhayne, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on August 16 in its regular analytical report (narration by UNIAN). The AFU continued offensive actions in the Bakhmut, Berdyansk (Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk regions border area) and Melitopol (west of Zaporizhzhya region) directions.
The report wrote: “Ukrainian reports about the liberation of Urozhayne are consistent with previous statements by Ukrainian officials about the liberation of other settlements in the area and recent reports by Russian troops that Russian units in the area are being withdrawn”. In addition, the analysts noted that Ukrainian forces were advancing northeast of Robotyne (10 kilometers south of Orikhiv) in western Zaporizhzhya region and “likely made major gains in the surrounding areas, given the continuous activity of Ukrainian forces in the forested areas northeast of the settlement”.
ISW wrote that this is also confirmed by Russian war correspondents’ publications that small groups of Ukrainian infantry supported by armored vehicles continued their offensive north and northeast of Robotino, as well as in the direction of Verbove. Russian military correspondents claimed that fighting was currently taking place over the northern part of Robotyne and that Ukrainian equipment could move more freely in the area due to Ukrainian forces clearing minefields. They also claimed that recent Ukrainian successes allow Ukrainian forces to put constant pressure on Russian forces in areas where mines are no longer present.
The analysts refute reports from Russian sources that the AFU has activated its “main reserves” in the Zaporizhzhya region for counter-offensive operations. “Russia’s continued claims about attacks by a small part of Ukrainian infantry in the area do not correspond to the alleged engagement of the main elements of Ukraine’s mechanized reserves. Russian sources appear to incorrectly portray Ukrainian reserves as one large unitary contingent that Ukraine will send into battle as a single unit, and prematurely claim that Ukraine has deployed all of its reserves based on scattered observations of Ukrainian units equipped with Western weaponry”.
We would like to note that Russia seized the Robotyne settlement in March 2022, launching a full-scale military aggression against Ukraine on February 24.
On the morning of August 16, Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar announced the liberation of Urozhaynoye from the occupants. And soon the soldiers of the 35th Independent Marine Brigade, who participated in the liberation of the settlement, showed and told how it happened and published footage of Ukrainian fighters raising a blue-and-yellow flag over the destroyed monument.
