The US think tank made the assessment in its latest report on the war in Ukraine, published on Sunday night.
Ukrainian troops on Sunday continued counteroffensive operations near Bakhmut and marginally advanced in the western part of Zaporizhzhia, the ISW reported.
According to geolocated footage released on Sunday, Ukrainian forces made limited gains north of Novoprokopivka (14 km south of Orikhiv) in Zaporizhzhia, the US experts noted.
In addition, a Russian war blogger claimed that Ukrainian troops also advanced near Kopani (10 km southwest of Orikhiv),” the ISW added.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces achieved partial success northeast of Andriivka (7 km southwest of Bakhmut), the General Staff in Kyiv said.
Additionally, Russian sources said Ukraine continued attacks near Andriivka and Kurdyumivka (11 km southwest of Bakhmut), according to the ISW.
Meanwhile, both Russian and Ukrainian sources reported that deteriorating weather conditions were having an impact on both sides’ military operations across the theatre of war, the US think tank reported.
Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesman Col. Oleksandr Shtupun said that Russian drone and aviation activity has decreased in the past few days due to poor weather.
According to Russian war bloggers, worsening weather conditions in the Bakhmut and Zaporizhia directions were impacting Ukrainian offensive operations as well as Russian aerial reconnaissance operations.
Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Spokesperson Captain Ilya Yevlash reiterated that poor weather may impact drone and aviation operations but that the weather will not halt Ukraine’s counteroffensive, as cited by the ISW.
In its latest counteroffensive against Russia, Ukraine is seeking to encircle and recapture Bakhmut in the east, while also pushing through Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, in a bid to reach the port of Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, splitting Russian forces, according to news outlets.
Russia shells Ukraine’s Kherson, Kharkiv regions, killing two civilians
Russia on Sunday launched attacks on several regions of Ukraine, killing at least two people and injuring a dozen more, the Reuters news agency reported.
In Kherson, a man died in Russian shelling in the northern part of the province, and a further 12 people were injured in attacks on different localities, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
In late 2022, Russian troops abandoned the regional capital Kherson City and the part of the province on the western part of the Dnipro river, but have been regularly shelling these areas from the eastern bank of the river, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, one person also died in the Russian attack on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, near the Russian border, according to regional Governor Oleh Synehbov.
Monday is day 593of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
(pm/gs)
Source: ISW, Reuters, Ukrainska Pravda