Russians might be planning to simultaneously assault Sloviansk, Kramatorsk

That’s according to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrinform reports.

It is noted that the Russian artillery struck the area south of Barvinkove, having also shelled Nikopol and Novopavlivka, as well as a number of other settlements northwest of Sloviansk.

ISW believes this may suggest that the invaders seek to bypass Barvinkove to the east and either move toward the E40 Izium-Sloviansk highway to advance southeast toward Sloviansk or move directly southeast from Barvinkove toward Kramatorsk.

“Russian forces may be setting conditions for an eventual assault on Kramatorsk—which would run parallel to advances toward Slovyansk,” analysts suggest.

Also, the think tank recalls that the Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed on July 7 that the Russian forces were taking an “operational pause.”

Over the past weeks, the Ukrainian forces destroyed 16 enemy positions where Russian military barracks and ammunition depots were located.

Among those destroyed are the depots in Perevalsk, Popasna, Kadiyivka in Luhansk region; Yasynuvata, Snizhne, Makiyivka, and Donetsk; Chornobayivka, Velykyi Burluk, and Kherson.