1 Instute for the Study of War and AEI’s Crical Threats Project 2023
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 12, 2023
Kateryna Stepanenko, Karolina Hird, Grace Mappes, Nicole Wolkov, George Barros,
and Mason Clark
June 12, 2023, 5:20pm ET
Click here to see ISW’s interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This map is
updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.
Click here to access ISW’s archive of interactive time-lapse maps of the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. These maps complement the static control-of-terrain map that
ISW produces daily by showing a dynamic frontline. ISW will update this time-lapse
map archive monthly.
Note: The data cutoff for this product was 1:30pm ET on June 12. ISW will cover
subsequent reports in the June 13 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment.
Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in at least three sectors of the
front and made territorial gains on June 12. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna
Malyar reported on June 12 that Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk and Tavrisk (Zaporizhia) directions
have advanced 6.5km and retaken 90 square kilometers of territory over the past week.[1] Malyar
added that Ukrainian forces liberated one settlement in western Zaporizhia Oblast and six settlements
in eastern Zaporizhia and western Donetsk oblasts in the same period. Ukrainian Eastern Group of
Forces Spokesperson Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty stated that Ukrainian troops continued counterattacks
on the flanks of Bakhmut and advanced 250 to 700 meters in unspecified areas on the outskirts of the
city.[2] Russian sources noted that Ukrainian forces continued counterattacks on Russian positions
southwest, north and northwest of Bakhmut, particularly near Berkhivka (3km northwest of
Bakhmut).[3] Geolocated footage posted on June 12 additionally indicates that Ukrainian forces have
made limited advances in western Donetsk Oblast south of Velyka Novosilka.[4] Russian milbloggers
claimed that Russian forces are trying to counterattack in this area and that fighting continued in the
western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast area over the course of June 12.[5] Russian milbloggers
additionally reported Ukrainian combat activity in western Zaporizhia Oblast near Orikhiv, but noted
that the intensity of attacks on this sector has decreased somewhat.[6]
Russian forces reportedly launched a counterattack on June 12 in western Donetsk
Oblast following Ukrainian tactical gains near the Vremivka salient on June 11. Russian
sources reported that elements of the Russian 127th Motorized Rifle Division (5th Combined Arms
Army, Eastern Military District) launched a large counterattack against Ukrainian forces in the
Vremivka salient on June 12.[7] Russian forces have made no confirmed territorial gains in these
counterattacks as of this publication, though some Russian sources reported that Russian forces
recaptured Makarivka (5km south of Velyka Novosilka).[8] Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister
Hanna Malyar reported that Ukrainian forces still control Makarivka as of June 12.[9] A Russian
source reported that fighting in the Vremivka salient as ongoing and that the results of the battle are
unclear.[10] Ardent nationalist and former Russian officer Igor Girkin claimed that, if true, these
reports confirm the success of Russian flexible defense tactics in the area and that the Russian
