Since September, Russia has significantly increased the pace of its advance in some areas, triple its territorial gains for the whole of last year, the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
25.11.2024 06:10
Photo: SITA/AP, Evgeniy Maloletka
A journalist looks at debris from a missile that hit Dnipro on Nov. 21, at the Forensic Analysis Center at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the attack with Russia’s new Oreshnik missile. Ukrainians are exploring its ruins.
Highlights
- The war in Ukraine lasts 1006 days
6:15 The recent confirmed gains of Russian forces on the battlefield near Vuhledar and Veľká Novosilka prove that the war in Ukraine is not a stalemate. The front line in the Donetsk region is increasingly flexing as Russian forces have recently advanced at a significantly faster pace than they did in all of 2023, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
Russian advances in the direction of Pokrovsk, Kurachov, Vuhledar, and Velká Novosilka allow the Russian military command to choose several lines of advance that the Russian command can attempt in the coming weeks and months. The Russian military command is likely planning an advance into the southeasternmost part of the Dnepropetrovsk region to support Russia’s long-term goal of seizing the entire Donetsk region. As of September 1, 2024, the Russians have significantly increased the pace of their advance in these areas, gaining at least 1,103 square kilometers. Russian forces gained only 387 square kilometers for the entire year 2023 thanks to Ukraine’s counteroffensive in 2023.
Components of Russia’s Central, Eastern and Southern Military Districts are conducting concurrent mutually supporting offensive operations in the Donetsk region and have recently made relatively rapid tactical progress. Russian command appears to have learned from some battlefield mistakes after three years of war, but the extent of those lessons is currently unclear, according to ISW.
The Russian military command appears to be planning more complex operations, but Russian forces would need to be able to resume operational maneuvering on the battlefield. Instead, they still rely on their ability to find and exploit vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s defense lines to advance tactically, the US institute adds.
6:10 Debris from downed drones caused a fire in an industrial area in the city of Kaluga, roughly 200 kilometers southwest of Moscow. Three unmanned aircraft were destroyed by air defense on the outskirts of Kaluga, the governor of the Kaluga region, Vladislav Šapša, wrote on the Telegram platform early Monday morning. According to him, no one was injured. The governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, announced that Russian air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian missiles over the region.
The governor of Šapša did not specify which building in Kaluga caught fire. The debris allegedly fell into the premises of an industrial enterprise and caused a fire.
Russian air defense systems destroyed seven Ukrainian missiles over the Kursk region on Monday night, the governor of the region, which borders Ukraine and controls a small part of it, said. Smirnov further stated that air defense units also destroyed seven Ukrainian drones. He did not disclose further details.
Pro-Russian military analyst Roman Aljochin, who acts as an adviser to Smirnov, said in a telegram that the Kursk region was the target of a “massive foreign-made missile attack” overnight.
Ukraine, which has been resisting a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two and a half years, has increased the range of its combat drones and targets Russian refineries and fuel facilities. Russia is shelling Ukrainian territory almost every night with its long-range weapons and is trying to cripple Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. It also affects many civilian targets.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
