Russia's stated goals during its invasion of Ukraine remain regime change in Kyiv and cutting off the sovereignty of a Ukrainian state that will survive a Russian attack despite Russian military setbacks and rhetoric hinting at diminishing war goals in the aftermath of those defeats, according to the Institute for the Study of War..

Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said on July 5 that the Russian military operation in Ukraine will continue until Russia achieves its goals of protecting the civilian population from the "

Main Effort - Eastern Ukraine.

The main effort is the south of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions (Russia's goal: to surround Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and capture the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the territory claimed by Russian proteges in the Donbass).

Support Operation #1 – Kharkiv city (Russian objective: to secure ground lines of communication (GLOC) to Izyum and prevent Ukrainian forces from reaching the Russian border).

Supporting Operation #2 - Southern Axis (Russia's goal: to protect the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions from Ukrainian counterattacks). On July 5, Russian troops preferred to hold defensive lines and repulse Ukrainian counteroffensives along the Southern Axis.

The Southern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Ukrainian forces repelled an attack by a Russian platoon near Lozovoe (southwest of the Davydov Bridge in the Kherson region), indicating that Ukrainian forces likely either re-established a foothold in Lozovoe on an unspecified previous date or continuously maintained.

This report is the first mention by Ukrainian officials of the control of the area on the left bank of the Ingulets River near Davidov Brod since the Ukrainian General Staff announced the counteroffensive of Ukrainian troops near Sukhoi Stavk on June 5.

Russia is conducting mobilization and force generation efforts (goal: to expand combat power without conducting a general mobilization).

[see_also ids\u003d"

Activities in the territories occupied by Russia are aimed at consolidating administrative control over the occupied territories; setting conditions for potential annexation to the Russian Federation or any other future political arrangement of Moscow's choice.

Earlier it was reported about how the Russians plan to defend the Crimean bridge and what weapons they are afraid of. The expert said that the Russians probably will not destroy the bridge itself, but only the congress.