Donetsk
In a daily intelligence update, published on Twitter, the UK officials noted that Russia’s progress on the Popasna axis “has stalled over the last week.”
Meanwhile, “reports of heavy shelling near Izium suggest Russia is preparing to make a renewed effort on the northern axis,” the British ministry of defence added.
“Russia will almost certainly need to achieve a breakthrough on at least one of these axes,” to progress “towards its political objective of controlling all of Donetsk Oblast,” the UK officials wrote.
Luhansk
At the same time, Russia continues to try and capture Severodonetsk, the biggest remaining Ukrainian-held city in the eastern Luhansk region.
Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said on Tuesday morning that the battles for Severodonetsk were in “full swing,” the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday that “fierce street fighting continues.” He noted that the Russian forces “outnumber us.”
However, Zelensky added that Ukraine’s troops have “every chance” of fighting back, according to the Reuters news agency.
Tuesday is day 104 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: Reuters, edition.cnn.com, bbc.com