The Russians seek to seize the initiative at the front in Ukraine before the election of the President of the Russian Federation - ISW (map)

Analysts noted that the occupiers are currently conducting offensive operations along the majority of the front line, in particular in the direction of Avdiivka and near Bakhmut. In addition, Russian units organize continuous terrestrial attacks in the western part of the Zaporozhye region. "The current rate of fighting shows that the Russian forces are trying to restore the initiative at least from mid -November 2023," the report reads.

American analysts have suggested that the Russian command may have also tried to bring the Ukrainian counter -offensive to the culmination or ensure that Ukraine's defense forces could not restore it in early winter. In their opinion, the time of events indicates that Kyiv, at his own request, decided to significantly reduce its counter -offensive operations before the start of the assault of the Russian occupation units.

In the report, experts stressed that it remains unclear whether the current Russian offensive operations will create certain conditions for the achievements of the Russian Federation with considerable success in the near future. The difficult weather conditions probably slowed down the pace of promotion of the invaders along the majority of the front line, increased their losses and further undermined the moral state of Russian soldiers.

The speed of Russian losses along the entire front line in Ukraine is likely to indicate that, to prepare for large -scale winter operations, Russian forces do not accumulate unused reserves. The main efforts of Russia, according to the report, is detailed to capture Eastern Ukraine. The invaders seek to capture the rest of the Luhansk region and advance to the west to the Eastern Kharkiv region and the environment of the northern part of Donetsk region.