Russia-Ukraine Flash Report 02 JUL 2022 14:45 PDT - Ivanivka Liberated

Patreons at the Bronze level and above read in the June 29 Situation Report that Russian troops were under intense pressure in Ivanivka, Kherson oblast. In that report, we included satellite imagery that showed intense fighting in the southern part of the settlement, indicating Ukrainian forces had contested control of the town.

We've also reported that we have not been able to share other information that isn't available through open source to support Operational Security. We can confirm, that Ivanivka has been liberated.

Additionally, Russian forces are under intense pressure in the Russian-held stronghold of Arkhanhelske, south of Ivanivka. We have geolocated numerous videos in the last 48 hours showing intense shelling and the destruction of numerous Russian assets. Arkhanhelske is the last Russian strong point in the Vysokopillya salient, which is collapsing.

According to insurgents in Melitopol, the Russian Ministry of Defense has reallocated 40 to 67 tanks from the Zaporizhia region and was moving them in the Kherson direction. The variation in the number is due to an initial report of 27 tanks moving from a reliable source, and then a second report increasing the number to 40. It was not clear if another 13 were deployed, or if 40 additional were deployed.

The Russian Ministry of Defense had indicated that the T-62 tanks deployed to Zaporizhia would be used as pillboxes (defensive firing positions) and placed in reinforced defenses. Satellite imagery showed this activity was occurring around Polohy. Ukrainian forces are gaining territory in Zaporizhia and Russia is dealing with a significant insurgency in Melitopol and Kherson. 

Based on open-source information showing Russian armor losses over the last 7 to 10 days, the deployment of additional tanks into Kherson is representative of force replacement versus reinforcement, which the loss of IFV, SPG, and MLRS is considered with tanks

Russian and Russia-backed proxy forces are increasingly having to play a game of whack-a-mole in Zaporizhia, Kherson, and the southern part of Kharkiv on the Izyum axis.