Combat in Zaporizhzhia oblast is still heavy and grinding, but there were no reported advances today. There is increasingly chatter about Ukraine possibly reaching the culmination of their offensive soon, particularly as noise about Ukrainian manpower shortages is becoming louder.
Likewise, little happen in southern Donetsk oblast. However, the Bakhmut segment of the front saw some developments, and a fair share of drama.
Ukraine's deputy defense minister proclaimed that Andriivka was liberated. Shortly after, she changed her statement to merely say that Ukraine was making progress in the area. She put out a statement saying that she always coordinated her statements with the military, but that there was a breakdown in communicationa; not exactly reassuring. After her edited statements came out, a unit that is part of Azov accused her of revealing their positions, something she herself once accused the media and open source intelligence community of doing.
Russian milbloggers reported on an alleged counterattack which saw Russian troops fight their way back to northeastern Klishchiivka, all but confirming that the Russian presence in the town is virtually eliminated. Ukraine is likely still pushing into the remaining few blocks of the settlement and checking for mines, traps, and any Russian forces left behind. We should expect a statement that Klishchiivka has been liberated in the next few days, I believe. The same goes for Andriivka too, if one were to exclude today's retracted statement.
Crimea and the Black Sea saw the most notable action today. Ukraine struck and destroyed a rare S-400 air defense battery in Crimea. It's location was inadvertently revealed last year by a Russian tourist, which prompted Russia to request that their citizens be carefully where they film and take photographs. The answer as to why they never bothered to shift the location of their air defense battery though after it's location was revealed eludes me. In addition, a Ukrainian drone is confirmed to have struck the Vasily Bykov. The extent of the damage is unclear, but Russia has claimed it was "non critical" damage. Of course with two burnt remnants of ships sitting in two damaged and scorched drydocks, Russia's ability to repair ships in the Black Sea is much more limited now than even earlier in the week. Ukraine also claims to have struck a second Russian black Sea Fleet vessel, of the same design. In addition, the Russian Corvette Samum also came under attack. According to Russia, the Samum destroyed all incoming drones and escaped unharmed.
Ukraine has dramatically stepped up their assaults against Russia's naval assets over the past week, as well as air defense systems in Crimea. Combined with the recapture of the Boyko Towers last month, there's a pretty clear pattern that Ukraine is increasingly asserting themselves in the Black Sea. Whether or not this will amount to anything remains an open question, but it is a very noticeable pattern so far. I wouldn't be surprised if the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet gets replaced in the future, as the fleet has proven to be inflexible and has had a difficult time adapting to Ukrainian drones.
Zelenskyy is set to make his second trip to the United States since Russia's full invasion of Ukraine next week. He is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly in person, as well as give a speech to and request that that Congress agreed to President Biden's request for more funding for Ukraine. He is also expected to meet with Biden directly; as it has been months since they have seen each other, I presume that they will talk about how Ukraine's offensive is going.
After Ukraine captured a Cuban citizen fighting for Russia, Cuba declared that Cubans are free to join the Russian military to fight against Ukraine on an individual basis if they wish. Cuba drew a distinction between this and the alleged human trafficking rings that they are shutting down which reportedly sent Cuban citizens to Russia. The statement was something of an olive branch from Cuba towards Russia, and provided confirmation that Russia can continue to tap Cuba for manpower, albeit through official channels only.
The International Criminal Court has set up a new base of operations in Kyiv. The center will help the ICC to investigate and prosecute war crimes. It's worth noting that officially Ukraine's situation with the ICC is a bit ambiguous as they have signed the Rome Statute, but not ratified it. However in two separate unilateral moves in 2015 and 2015, Ukraine recognized the full authority of the ICC pertaining to crimes committed on its territory.
Romania has imposed a larger no flight zone on their side of the border. As far as I am aware, this is the first of its kind along the borders with Ukraine. The zone sits entirely within Romanian territory. As much as Ukraine has called for a no fly zone to be imposed over its territory, it seems as if Romania or NATO as a whole has absolutely no interest in doing so despite several Russian drones finding their way into Romanian air space.
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have come quite close to sealing the border with Russia. The trio of states have banned Russian registered cars from entering their territory. Estonia and Lithuania are also openly considering whether or not they will seize any Russian registered cars currently in their territory.