Operational report: The General Staff records the first signs of a new offensive by Russian troops in the East

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has published an operational report on events at the frontline as of 18:00. The current situation is as follows:

• The main efforts of the enemy are focused on establishing full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts and maintaining the previously captured territory. The General Staff records the first signs of a new offensive by Russian troops in the East.
• In the occupied Crimea and Rostov Oblast, Russia is forming additional units to intensify the offensive.
• There were no significant changes in the enemyʼs actions in the Volyn, Polissia, and Sivershchyna directions.
• In the Slobozhanshchyna direction, the enemy group continues to partially block Kharkiv and destroy residential areas of the city with artillery fire.
• In the Izium direction, the aggressor operates in separate units consisting of 1 tank army, 20 general armies of the Western Military District, 35 and 68 all-military armies of the Eastern Military District, and airborne troops. Deployment of helipads has been recorded in the Belgorod region.
• In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, the enemy is concentrating its main efforts on capturing the settlements of Lyman, Kreminna, Popasna, and Rubizhne, as well as establishing full control over Mariupol.
• The aggressor also intensified offensive operations in the Sievierodonetsk, Popasna, Kurakhiv, and Zaporizhzhia areas.
• In the South Buh direction, the occupiers focused on maintaining the captured frontiers. The enemy does not abandon attempts to establish full control over the territory of Kherson Oblast.
• Enemy ship groups in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas continue to isolate the sea coast of Ukraine.
• In the occupied territories, the enemy steals and exports to the Russian Federation equipment machinery, and products of local enterprises, and bypasses agricultural fields.
• The Defense Forces continue to hold certain borders, destroy the enemy and, in some areas, liberate Ukrainian lands from invaders.