General Staff: Ukrainian army repels Russian counterattacks south of Bakhmut

Ukrainian troops repelled Russian counterattacks near Klishchiyivka, south of Bakhmut (eastern Ukraine), the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported in its daily frontline update on 5 September 2023. Over the last day, there were around 20 combat engagements between Ukrainian defenders and invading Russian troops, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. Within 24 hours, the Russian army launched 32 air strikes. Apart from air strikes, Russian troops shelled positions of Ukrainian forces and residential areas of Ukrainian towns 39 times, using multiple rocket launchers and other artillery systems, the General Staff reported. Russian attacks resulted in civilian casualties, injuries, and damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

In the Bakhmut sector (Donetsk Oblast), Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks near Klishchiyivka in the Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine’s General Staff reported. More than 15 settlements suffered from Russian artillery shelling, including Fedorivka Druha, Tikhonivka, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, and Kostiantynivka. In the Mariinka sector (Donetsk Oblast), the Ukrainian Army continued to hold back Russian forces in the vicinity of Mariinka. Russian Air Force launched an air strike near Krasnohorivka, Ukraine’s General Staff reported. Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Pobieda, Katerynivka, and Veselyi Hai suffered from the Russian artillery fire. In the Kupiansk sector, which covers Kharkiv and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine, the Russian army used artillery to shell the following towns: Masiutivka, Kucherivka, Kyslivka, Berestove, and Kovalivka in the Kharkiv Oblast. In the Avdiivka sector (Donetsk Oblast), the artillery shelled the towns of Oleksandropil, Nevelske, Stepove, Keramik, Avdiivka, and Sievierne. In the Shakhtarsk sector, which covers parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, Russian forces launched an air strike in the areas of Vuhledar and Staromaiorsk in the Donetsk Oblast. Russian artillery shelled over ten towns, including Vodiane, Novoukrayinka, Shakhtarske, Fedorivka, Shevchenko, and Urozhaine in the Donetsk Oblast. In the Zaporizhzhia sector, the Russian army launched air strikes in the areas of Mala Tokmachka, Orikhiv, and Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Over ten settlements came under Russian artillery fire, including Velykomykhailivka, Nikopol, and Dobra Nadiia in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and Novodarivka, Malynivka, Zatyshia, Novoandriyivka, Stepove, and Kamiyanske in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Ukrainian counteroffensive: Genocide of Russian artillery

In the Siverskyi and Slobozhanskyi sectors (northeastern and eastern parts of the country), Russia's Air Force launched air strikes near Sydorivka in the Sumy Oblast and Udy and Veterynarne in the Kharkiv Oblast. The Russian army used artillery and mortars to shell more than 15 settlements, including Kliusy, Karpovychi, and Buchky in the Chernihiv Oblast; Znob-Novhorodske, Romashkove, Buhor, Vorozhba, Veselivka, and Popivka in the Sumy Oblast; and Udy, Strilecha, Ohirtseve, Vovchansk, Nesterne, and Chorne in the Kharkiv Oblast. In the Kherson sector (southern Ukraine), the Russian army launched an air strike in the area of Mykhailivka. More than ten towns in the Kherson Oblast came under artillery and mortar fire, including Zolota Balka, Respublikanets, Odradokamianka, Olhivka, Tokarivka, and Soniachne. In the Lyman sector (Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts), the Russian Army conducted unsuccessful offensive operations in the area of Novoiehorivka in the Luhansk Oblast, according to the General Staff. Russia’s Air Force carried out air strikes near Bilohorivka in the Luhansk Oblast and near Torske, Siversk, and Spirne in the Donetsk Oblast. The Russian artillery and mortars shelled Nevske and Bilohorivka in the Luhansk Oblast and Dibrova, Torske, Spirne, and Verkhniokamianske in the Donetsk Oblast.

Frontline report: Depletion of Russian air defense in southern Ukraine opens doors for Ukrainian armed drones

The situation in the Volyn and Polissya sectors in northern Ukraine remained unchanged, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.