The US think tank made the assessment in its latest report on the war in Ukraine, published on Sunday night.
Ukraine continues to make progress around Lyman
“Ukrainian forces made continued gains around Lyman, Donetsk Oblast, and have broken through Russian defensive positions in northeastern Kherson Oblast,” the ISW reported.
It specified that Ukrainian troops “continued to liberate settlements east and northeast of Lyman and have liberated Torske in Donetsk Oblast.”
Meanwhile, “Russian sources claimed that Russian forces withdrew from their positions northeast of Lyman, likely to positions around Kreminna and along the R66 Svatove-Kreminna highway,” the US experts said.
The ISW added that Ukraine’s recapture of Lyman at the weekend, the advances Kyiv made in the Kharkiv region, “combined with the Kremlin’s failure to conduct partial mobilisation effectively and fairly are fundamentally changing the Russian information space.”
Kremlin media criticising officials for failures of partial mobilisation
According to the US think tank, “Kremlin-sponsored media and Russian milbloggers – a prominent Telegram community composed of Russian war correspondents, former proxy officials, and nationalists – are grieving the loss of Lyman while simultaneously criticising the bureaucratic failures of the partial mobilisation. Kremlin sources and milbloggers are attributing the defeat around Lyman and Kharkiv Oblast to Russian military failures to properly supply and reinforce Russian forces in northern Donbas and complaining about the lack of transparency regarding the progress of the war.”
The US experts also said that “the milblogger community may begin to undermine Putin’s narratives to his core audience amidst the defeats and failures of the Russian war in Ukraine,” especially as “their narratives spread to mainstream Kremlin-controlled outlets.”
Putin admits ‘mistakes’ of partial mobilisation
Meanwhile, the UK Ministry of Defence noted on Monday that “on 29 September 2022, President Putin addressed his National Security Council on the ‘partial mobilisation’ he had announced on 21 September.”
The British analysts quoted Putin as saying to the National Security Council that “a lot of questions are being raised during this mobilisation campaign, and we must promptly correct our mistakes and not repeat them.”
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, “Putin’s unusually rapid acknowledgement of problems highlights the dysfunction of the mobilisation over its first week. Local officials are likely unclear on the exact scope and legal rationale of the campaign.”
The British experts reported that local Russian officials “have almost certainly drafted some personnel who are outside the definitions claimed by Putin and the Ministry of Defence.”
The UK Ministry of Defence assessed that “as drafted reservists continue to assemble at tented transit camps, Russian officials are likely struggling to provide training and in finding officers to lead new units.”
Zelensky confirms liberation of Arkhanhelske, Myriolubivka
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday night confirmed the liberation of two settlements in the southern Kherson region: Arkhanhelske and Myroliubivka.
Zelensky said in his nightly video address: "I am thankful to the soldiers of the 129th brigade of my native Kryvy Rih, who distinguished themselves with good results and liberated, in particular, Arkhanhelske and Myroliubivka," as quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda website.
Unsuccessful Russian assaults around Bakhmut, Vyimka, Avdiivka
Elsewhere on the frontline, Ukrainian forces continued to advance on settlements east of Kupyansk and have liberated Kisharivka in Kharkiv Oblast, the ISW reported.
Meanwhile, “Russian forces continued to launch unsuccessful assaults around Bakhmut, Vyimka, and Avdiivka,” in the Donetsk region, the US experts added.
At the same time, Ukrainian forces resumed counter-offensives in northern Kherson Oblast and have secured positions in Zolota Balka and Khreshchenivka, the US think tank said.
Russian sources “claimed that Ukrainian forces also liberated Shevchekivka and Lyubymivka, pushing Russian forces to new defensive positions around Mykailivka” in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the ISW.
Poland summons Russian ambassador over Putin’s attempt to annex Ukrainian regions
Meanwhile, Poland’s foreign ministry summoned the Russian Ambassador Sergei Andreev for 11 a.m. on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Officials were set to inform Andreev about “Poland’s refusal to recognise Russia’s pseudo-referenda in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s attempt to incorporate parts of Ukrainian territory into Russia,” Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz told reporters, as cited by PAP.
Monday is day 222 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: understandingwar.org, UK Ministry of Defence, pravda.com.ua, PAP