RUS-UKR war SITREP JUL3 2023 - Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 3, 2023

Key Takeaways:

    Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations in at least four sectors of the front and made marginal advances on July 3.
    Russian milbloggers have seized on recent Ukrainian activity on the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast to call for an increased presence of small river vessels and equipment in the Dnipro River to prevent further Ukrainian advances.
    Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev published an essay that reamplified inflammatory Russian rhetoric towards Ukraine and the West, likely to undermine support for Ukraine at the upcoming NATO summit
    Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reiterated boilerplate rhetoric about the current state of the war in Ukraine and the Wagner Group rebellion on July 3.
    Russian forces continued drone and missile strikes against rear areas in Ukraine overnight and during the day on July 3.
    The Kremlin continues to use tools of digital authoritarianism to surveil Russia’s domestic population and aims to expand domestic production of surveillance technology.
    Ukrainian and Russian forces continued limited attacks on the Svatove-Kreminna line and south of Kreminna.
    Russian and Ukrainian forces continued ground attacks in the Bakhmut area.
    Ukrainian forces reportedly continued limited ground attacks in western Donetsk Oblast, near the Donetsk-Zaporizhia oblasts administrative border, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
    Official Russian sources continue to claim that Russian forces repel all Ukrainian assaults on the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast near the Antonivsky Bridge.
    The Wagner Group is reportedly suspending regional recruitment on a temporary basis.
    Russian officials continue efforts to portray Russia as a safe custodian of Ukrainian children while inadvertently confirming that Russia is facilitating mass deportations of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation.

Details, Maps and Sources: https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-3-2023 (https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-3-2023)