The US think tank made the assessment in its latest report on the war in Ukraine, published on Tuesday night.
Ukrainian forces on Tuesday “continued counteroffensive operations” in the east and south and “advanced south of Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhzhia,” the ISW reported.
This assessment is backed up by geolocated footage released on Monday, which “indicates that Ukrainian forces advanced east of Andriivka (10 km southwest of Bakhmut)”, as well as by geolocated footage published on Tuesday, which “ indicates that Ukrainian forces marginally advanced west of Robotyne” in Zaporizhzhia, according to the US think tank.
Furthermore, Ukraine’s General Staff on Tuesday said that Kyiv’s troops “continued offensive actions south of Bakhmut and achieved partial success near Robotyne,” the ISW also reported.
Overall, Ukrainian troops are “causing losses to the enemy in personnel and equipment, and consolidating their positions on the achieved lines” south of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, according to military officials in Kyiv.
Ukraine also repelled more than 10 Russian air-supported attacks designed to encircle the city of Avdiivka, also in Donetsk province, “inflicting significant losses on the enemy,” the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported.
Ukrainian forces are also pushing on with their counteroffenive in the direction of the port of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia, the General Staff in Kyiv said.
Ukrainian troops there “inflict casualties on the occupying forces in both personnel and equipment, and exhaust the enemy along the entire frontline,” Ukraine’s military officials added.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are also carrying out counter-battery warfare in the southern Kherson region, striking Russia’s rear positions, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported.
In all, Ukrainian and Russian troops clashed 55 times on the battlefield in the course of Tuesday, Ukraine’s military command said.
Russian attacks
Russia on Tuesday carried out four missile attacks, 68 aerial strikes and 49 attacks with multiple-launch rocket systems, targeting both the positions of Ukrainian troops and civilian settlements, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported.
This resulted in casualties among Ukraine’s civilian population, as well as damage and destruction of residential buildings and other civilian facilities, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.
Ukrainian strikes
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force on Tuesday conducted seven strikes on concentrations of Russian personnel, equipment and military vehicles, and a further three strikes on Russian anti-aircraft missile systems, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported.
In addition, Ukraine fired rockets into eight pieces of Russian artillery, four concentrations of Russian personnel, equipment and military vehicles, a Russian electronic warfare station, and a Russian pontoon bridge crossing, the General Staff in Kyiv said.
Russia’s death toll in Ukraine on Tuesday reached 294,700 soldiers, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported.
As part of its latest counteroffensive against Russia, Ukraine is pushing through Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, in a bid to reach the port of Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, as well as aiming to retake Bakhmut in the east, among other objectives.
Germany earmarks EUR 1.4 bn to help Ukraine withstand Russia’s winter attacks
Meanwhile, Germany is preparing an EUR 1.4 billion military aid package to help Kyiv counter Russia’s expected winter onslaught, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a German-Ukrainian Economic Forum in Berlin on Tuesday that the package would be designed as a “protective shield” around Ukraine’s energy and other infrastructure.
The chancellor added that Russia planned to continue bombing such facilities and “use the cold as a weapon against the civilian population," according to Interfax-Ukraine.
The EUR 1.4 billion package includes the Patriot, Iris-T6 and Gepard air defence systems, among other military hardware, according to officials.
Scholz vowed: "We will support Ukraine for as long as it needs. Together with our partners in the Euopean Union, the Group of Seven and many other countries, we have no doubt in our unity and determination.”
Wednesday is day 609 of 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: RBC-Ukraine, ISW, Interfax-Ukraine, facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua
