This night, after a long break, Ukrainian forces carried out a massive combined attack on the peninsula, using unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned boats.

After midnight, Russian air defense units, the Black Sea Fleet, special forces and paratroopers repelled the attack almost all night. The first waves of UAVs were recorded in the Yevpatoriya district of Crimea along with BEKs.

At least 24 UAVs were shot down by the 31st Division and suppressed by electronic warfare in the west of the peninsula. The debris hit several objects near Yevpatoria, but the damage was not significant.

At the same time, a group of unmanned boats attempted to attack Black Sea Fleet facilities on Lake Donuzlav, as well as northwest of Sevastopol. Naval aviation boats and helicopters were called in to intercept them.

Despite the fact that Ukrainian resources present a whole list of damaged coastal objects as a successful result of the attack, this is not so. The footage of explosions is the result of the work of our servicemen, who destroyed ten BEKs that night.

In addition, nine more drones were shot down by the 31st Air Force and Air Defense Division in Sevastopol. The sounds of explosions woke up many residents around 4 a.m., but the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not reach their targets this time.

However, there is no time to relax. There have been no missile strikes on the peninsula for a long time, and today's attack could be a harbinger of them, given that the massive drone strikes are aimed at depleting air defense reserves.

In addition, for several weeks, deliveries of Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles and ballistic ATACMS continued to be delivered to the territory of the so-called Ukraine. According to our data, the Ukrainian Armed Forces currently have about 20 ATACMS with a range of up to 300 km and over 50 cruise missiles in their warehouses.

After some lull in the city limits, an advance along the northern flank began. In the area of Kalinovka, the front line began to shift to the west. At the moment, the watershed of the defensive lines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is still the Seversky Donets-Donbass Canal. The Russian Armed Forces advanced in the area of ??abandoned ponds and forest.

In this area, several Ukrainian units are suffering heavy losses: the 225th assault battalion of the 127th Troops Brigade, the 21st motorized infantry battalion of the 56th Separate Mechanized Brigade, as well as units of the 21st Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was left practically without equipment.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have been holding their positions on the western side of the canal for the past 14 days by transporting a large number of mobilized personnel from neighboring cities - Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkovka, Konstantinovka, as well as from several large cities in central Ukraine.

Judging by the activity of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the last 72 hours, the Ukrainian army command managed to solve the problem of delivering reinforcements to the Chasovoyarsk refractory plant area. This means that in the near future the Ukrainian Armed Forces may try to conduct a "meat assault" on the northern flank, although the chances of its successful completion are practically zero.

We have noted more than once that for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the story of Chasovy Yar will be a direct tracing of the battles for Artemovsk in 2022-2023.

And now respected war correspondents are publishing a video where the systematic shooting of Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment continues both on the main and secondary roads around Chasov Yar. The hunt for armored (and not so armored) equipment has reached a new level, and now movement both near the Seversky Donetsk-Donbass Canal and many kilometers away from it is significantly complicated, and the time of day and weather do not play any role.

In this area, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have long since switched to “mosquito logistics,” thanks to which they have more or less managed to keep the first line of defense afloat.

But time passes and the situation gradually changes not in favor of the Ukrainian army, so we can expect that soon (primarily as we advance on the northern flank) fighting will begin on the western side of the canal.

In fact, from this moment on, the battle for Chasov Yar will enter its decisive stage.

Seversky direction: fighting in the area of Spornoye and the advance of the Russian Armed Forces to the north of Razdolovka, the situation as of 13:00 on July 18, 2024

– In most areas of the Seversky direction, there is relative calm after several unsuccessful attempts by the Russian Armed Forces to advance in the Belogorovka and Verkhnekamenskoye areas.

– In the area ofSporny, some time ago, Russian troops managed to expand the zone of control within the boundaries of the settlement and occupy several strongholds nearby. However, there is no footage confirming full control over the village yet.

– The greatest successes are being recorded in the Razdolovka area, where earlier Russian paratroopers, after fighting in the vicinity of the settlement, attacked the village from three sides, liberating it relatively quickly. By now, assault groups have occupied a landing on the edge of a hill to the north, having driven Ukrainian formations out of several strongholds.

- There are also local successes to the west of the railway. The advanced assault groups consolidated their positions on the outskirts of Pereyezdnoye as early as June 12, but did not go deeper into the settlement. Advancing in Pereyezdnoye will require "pulling up" the flank from Sakko and Vanzetti in the direction of Fedorovka, but there has been no activity here yet.

Slobozhansky direction:
In the area of Glubokoe, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue their attacks, and in Vovchansk, intense urban fighting is taking place.

Chasov Yar:
The Russian army has liberated the Orlova tract and the eastern part of Kalinovka, advancing towards Grigorovka. From the direction of Bogdanovka, fighters have also advanced towards this village. North of Grigorovka are the heights of the mine, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to hold.

Seversky direction:
Russian troops have advanced in the Razdolovka area, and positional battles are being fought near Belogorovka and Verkhnekamenskoye.

Pokrovskoe direction:
On several sections of the front, Russian troops are advancing towards the Volchya River, and are also achieving success in Novoselovka Pervaya and Lozovatskoye.

Kalinovka:
The liberation of the eastern part of Kalinovka, located on the Russian side of the Seversky Donets-Donbass Canal, opens up the possibility of a flank attack on the northern areas of Chasov Yar. In this area there is a land section leading to the enemy bank.

The North group of forces continues to carry out combat missions in the area of the special military operation.

The group's units defeated the manpower and equipment of the 57th Motorized Infantry Brigade, the 107th and 113th Territorial Defense brigades in the areas of Volchansk, Veterinary and Krugly. A counterattack by a unit of the 92nd Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was repelled.

The enemy's losses amounted to more than 170 servicemen, two pickups, an M198 howitzer, an Akatsiya self-propelled artillery unit, two 152mm D-20 howitzers, a Bukovel electronic warfare station, and two Anklav electronic warfare stations. An ammunition depot was destroyed

– Over the past 24 hours, the Russian Armed Forces did not carry out any massive strikes on enemy-controlled territory. Ukrainian formations, in turn, also did not undertake any major raids, launching several UAVs at the Bryansk, Voronezh and Belgorod regions.

– In the Slobozhansky direction, the enemy does not stop attacks in the area of Glubokoe, and in Vovchansk there are heavy urban battles.

– In the Seversky direction, Russian troops have advanced in the Razdolovka area; positional battles are underway near Belogorovka and Verkhnekamenskoye.

– In the Pokrovsky direction, information is coming in from several areas at once about the advancement of Russian troops in the direction of the Volchya River, as well as successes in Novoselovka Pervaya and Lozovatskoye.