The US think tank made the assessment in its latest report on Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, published on Tuesday night.
The Russian army appears to be "trying to regain the theater-level initiative" by conducting "several simultaneous offensive operations" in eastern Ukraine, the ISW said.
However, "Ukrainian forces maintain pressure on critical areas of the front," the US experts added.
The situation along the frontline is "complex," but Ukrainian forces "maintain control of the battlespace," according to military officials in Kyiv.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi stated on Monday, during a conversation with the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Brown, that the Avdiivka, Kupyansk, and Marinka directions "are the most intense," but noted that Ukrainian forces "are continuing offensive actions," the ISW reported.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Ground Forces Commander, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, emphasized that Russian forces were pursuing "simultaneous offensive actions in several directions" and trying particularly to regain the initiative "north and south of Bakhmut," in the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian forces "are reporting an increase of Russian assaults in the Kupyansk, Avdiivka, and Donetsk directions," the ISW noted.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian forces shot down another Russian Su-25 attack aircraft in the Avdiivka direction, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported.
It was the eighth Russian warplane brought down in the area since Russia launched its offensive on Avdiivka on October 10, according to officials.
According to the ISW, Russian forces "will likely struggle to fully regain the initiative across the theater," with Ukrainian forces "continuing their own offensive operations and making tactical-level gains along the front," particularly in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and on the east (left) bank of the southern Kherson province.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian forces continued their counteroffensive near Bakhmut, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian army, and consolidating their positions, the General Staff in Kyiv reported on Wednesday morning.
Ukrainian troops also kept up their push towards the port of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia, eroding Russia's manpower and military hardware, and "exhausting the enemy along the entire frontline," Ukraine's military chiefs said.
As part of its latest counteroffensive against Russia, Ukraine is pushing through Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, in a bid to reach Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, as well as aiming to retake Bakhmut in the east, among other objectives.
Wednesday is day 630 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, The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine