Russian operations to advance on Slovyansk from the southeast of Izyum and west of Lyman continue to make little progress and are unlikely to do so in the coming days, reported by the American Institute for the Study of the War [ISW].
The reason for this is that Russian forces continue to prioritize Severodonetsk at the expense of other axes of advance.
The occupiers continued to storm Severodonetsk and Lysychansk to establish full control over the Luhansk region.
Russian military leadership will likely use the capture of these two cities to claim they have “liberated” all of Luhansk Oblast before turning to Donetsk Oblast but Russian forces are unlikely to have the forces necessary to take substantial territory in Donetsk Oblast after suffering further losses around Severodonetsk, analysts say.
Russian forces are evidently limited by terrain in the Donbas and will continue to face challenges crossing the Siverskyi Donets River to complete the encirclement of Severodonetsk-Lysychansk and make further advances westward of Lyman towards Slovyansk via Raihorodok.
In addition, russian troops are gradually advancing in Avdiivka area.
Ukrainian counteroffensives in northwestern Kherson Oblast pushed russian forces to the eastern bank of the Inhulets River and will likely continue to disrupt russian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) along the T2207 highway, - the report says.
The Kremlin continued to pursue inconsistent occupational measures in southern Ukraine, indicating both widespread Ukrainian resistance and likely Kremlin indecision on how to integrate occupied territory.
The Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom, citing intelligence, said that russian troops had taken control of most of the city of Severodonetsk in Luhansk region.