In a recent report on the progress of Russian troops in Ukraine, the US Institute for War Studies (HEI) reported that Russia has lost control of an area larger than Denmark in Ukraine since the peak of the invasion in March. “Over the past 39 days, it has occupied an area only comparable to the size of Andorra,” said the ISW.
Think tank describes Wednesday’s statement by the defense minister Russia Sergei Shoygu, who stated that Russian troops were deliberately slowing down the pace of the offensive, allegedly out of concern for the lives of civilians.
Since the Russian troops resumed their offensive after an operational break on July 16, they only managed to occupy an area of just over 450 square kilometers, which is slightly smaller than the area Andorra. However, from March 21, when they controlled the v Ukraine the most territory, lost a total area of about 45 thousand. square kilometers, thus larger than Denmark.
Russian soldier in Starobelsk in the Luhansk region. Photo from July 12PAP / EPA
“The HEI has previously assessed that Russian forces are unable to translate limited tactical gains into wider operational successes, and their offensive operations in eastern Ukraine are reaching their climax. Shoigu’s statement is probably an attempt to explain these failures,” the report said.
In his speech at the meeting of defense ministers of the states belonging to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Shoigu stressed that “Russia’s broad-based goals in the war with Ukraine have not changed” – writes the Institute of Military Affairs, recalling that the Russian ministry had previously issued similar statements justifying its slow progress invasion.
Limited land attacks
“At the front, Russian forces carried out limited land attacks in the vicinity of Izium in the Kharkiv Oblast, near Bakhmut and Donetsk in the Donetsk Oblast, as well as in the northwest of the Kherson Oblast. Ukrainian forces continued to attack Russian military facilities and land communication lines in the oblasts Kherson and Zaporizhia “- it was written.
“The operation of the authorities subordinated to Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine is still hindered by the activity of partisans. The Russians, however, continue their efforts towards legislative and administrative integration of these areas with Russia,” added the report by the Institute of Foreign Affairs.
Main photo source: PAP / EPA