The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says Russian invasion forces in Ukraine have “lost momentum” and are unlikely to make “significant regional advances in the coming months”.
In its latest report on the military situation in Ukraine, two days before Ukrainian Independence Day and six months after the start of the Russian invasion, the Washington-based agency reported several attacks by Moscow troops in recent days. All were banished.
“Russian offensive operations in eastern Ukraine have exhausted the limited momentum they gained in late July and may be coming to a head,” says ISW, which collects and analyzes information from Russian and Ukrainian sources.
“The Russian military has shown an inability to translate small tactical gains into operational victories, barring major battlefield shifts and preventing Russia from making significant regional advances in the coming months.”
In recent days, he says, Russian forces have “unsuccessfully” launched several ground attacks southwest and southeast of Issyam, between the city of Kharkiv and the Donbass region. Donetsk region.
Russian forces “made limited gains” west of Donetsk city, but no ground offensives along the administrative border between Donetsk and Zaporizhia, according to the ISW.
The southwestern parts of the city of Donetsk and the northwestern and southwestern parts of Avdiivka were also targeted by Russian ground attacks.
On the Kherson-Mykolaiv (southern) front, Russian forces launched several attacks and “made some progress east of Mykolaiv,” the same source said.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian General Staff announced that they had managed to halt Russian advances towards the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region.
They also claimed that a Russian ammunition depot was destroyed during the counter-attack.
The Russian military said it destroyed an ammunition depot in the Ukrainian region of Odesa where US HIMARS missile launchers were stored.
Ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day (August 24), according to ISW, Russian occupation authorities “intensified filtering and smuggling operations in the occupied territories”.
Citing Ukrainian military intelligence services, ISW also reported that Russia and Belarus had reached an “urgent” agreement to repair damaged Russian aviation equipment in Belarusian units for reuse in Ukraine.
“The agreement may be part of a Russian effort to use a more flexible sanctions regime on Belarus to avoid sectoral sanctions against Russia,” reports ISW.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24 has already led to more than 12 million people fleeing their homes – more than six million internally displaced people and six million to neighboring countries – according to the most recent UN data. The refugee crisis is the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion — justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and militarize Ukraine for Russia’s security — was generally condemned by the international community, which has affected almost everyone by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing economic sanctions on Russia. sector, from banking to energy and sports.
The UN confirmed that 5,514 civilians died and 7,698 were wounded in the fighting, underscoring that the true numbers are likely to be much higher and can only be known during access to besieged areas or intense fighting.
