According to the ISW, Russia "deployed elements of a newly created “reserve army” (the 25th CAA) to enable units currently on the frontline in Luhansk Oblast to laterally redeploy to defend against the Ukrainian counteroffensive in southern Ukraine."
However, the think tank also stressed that the units moved to the south of Ukraine "are likely degraded and have been operating without brigade and regiment level rotations like many frontline Russian units throughout the theater."
The institute also pointed to its previous analysis saying that "a lack of operational reserves would force the Russian command to conduct further lateral redeployments and make tough decisions about what sectors of the front to prioritize."
The reserve forces of the 25th CAA are "unlikely to be combat effective at scale given its rushed deployment, ahead of a previously reported intended deployment date of December 2023," the ISW also said.
The Reuters news agency said on Friday that Ukrainian authorities reported the country's "troops had broken through Russia's first line of defences in several places, though they have then encountered even more heavily-fortified Russian positions."
The agency also quoted White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby as saying that the US had "noted over the last 72 hours or so some notable progress by Ukrainian armed forces ...in that southern line of advance coming out of the Zaporizhzhia area".
(tf)
Source: PAP, IAR, ISW, Reuters