Western officials had expected the offensive to start two weeks ago, and some were getting impatient. Operations now appear to be under way, though the cream of Ukraine’s forces has not yet appeared on the battlefield
it to come through Zaporizhia province, in the south of the country, perhaps directed at the city of Melitopol, with the aim of cutting the “land bridge” seized by Russian troops at the start of the war that connects occupied Crimea with Russia itself. Western officials had expected the offensive to begin two weeks ago, and some were getting impatient.
One Ukrainian attack took place around Velyka Novosilka, a minor settlement south-west of Donetsk city. Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of a Russian militia in Donetsk, said that Ukraine had followed up that attack by pretending to pull its forces back and then striking later at Novodonetske, around 12km to the south-east.
In fact Ukrainian troops were in Novodonetske by the morning of June 5th, says a Ukrainian source. “News from the…front line is becoming more alarming by the hour,” wrote one popular Russian Telegram channel. A Western official with knowledge of the situation says that Ukraine advanced in the area by up to five or six kilometres.
If Ukraine does intend to reinforce its attacks in Donetsk, it would suggest a slightly more easterly axis of advance than many had supposed. Velyka Novosilka lies around 120km north of Berdyansk, a key port on the Sea of Azov, and part of the land bridge between Russia and Crimea. A southward thrust in Donetsk could also threaten Mariupol, the port city captured and razed by Russia last year. Russian defences are slightly thinner in Donetsk than in Zaporizhia.
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