In its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine, published on Monday night, the US think tank wrote: “The Ukrainian counteroffensive is tangibly degrading Russian logistics and administrative capabilities in occupied southern Ukraine.”
The ISW noted that “Ukrainian officials explicitly confirmed that Ukrainian troops seek to attrit Russian logistical capabilities in the south through precision strikes on manpower and equipment concentrations, command centers, and logistics nodes.”
According to the US experts, “These counteroffensive actions also have intentional radiating effects on Russian occupation authorities.”
Plans for annexation referenda paused
For instance, the head of the Kherson Oblast occupation regime, Kirill Stremousov, told Russian media outlet TASS that his administration has “paused annexation referendum plans in Kherson Oblast due to ‘security’ concerns,” the US think tank reported.
It added that also according to The Ukrainian Resistance Center, “Russian occupation authorities are abandoning plans for referenda due to the ongoing counteroffensive.”
As the ISW noted, shortly after TASS published his comment, Stremousov “posted on Telegram denying he called for a pause because his administration had never set an official date for the referendum.”
According to the US analysts, “Both of Stremousov’s statements indicate a high level of disorganisation within occupation regimes that is likely being exacerbated by the effects of the counteroffensive.”
The US think tank assessed that ”Ukrainian forces intend to slowly chip away at both Russian tactical and operational level capabilities in Kherson Oblast, and in doing so will likely have significant impacts on the administrative and bureaucratic capabilities of occupation officials.”
The ISW further said that “Ukrainian military officials maintained their operational silence regarding the progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive but reported on the further destruction of Russian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) in Central Kherson Oblast.”
Tuesday is day 195 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm)
Source: PAP, understandingwar.org