Moscow intensifies its attacks in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian commander-in-chief Saluschnyj speaks of up to 80 attacks a day. However, US experts do not believe that the offensive operations will be a resounding success.
According to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian military is apparently trying to use newly mobilized reservists to advance the offensive in the Donetsk region. The increased number of personnel at the front could enable Moscow to gain territory, write the analysts in their current situation report. However, inadequate training, poor logistics and inadequate leadership will continue to prevent Moscow from achieving decisive operational successes that would significantly influence the course or outcome of the war, according to the experts.
Already on Friday, the Ukrainian army reported an intensification of fighting with Russian troops in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zalushnyi reported that Moscow had tripled its attacks. He spoke of up to 80 attacks a day. The situation at the front was “tense but under control,” Zalushnyj said on Telegram.
According to Kyiv, the main focus of the fighting is the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka. The Wagner mercenary group in particular attacked the Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut. According to Russian war bloggers, however, Moscow’s units have only made small gains of 100 meters around the strategically important transport hub since the beginning of November. Avdiivka, a few kilometers north of the regional capital of Donetsk, has been a frontline town since 2014. There, too, Moscow’s troops have made little progress since the war began eight months ago.
In view of the violent assaults, Kyiv has been assuming high Russian losses for days and speaks of several hundred deaths every day. Russia’s troops are likely trying to take over the locations so that Moscow can show success by announcing the “liberation” of Donbass, Serhiy Cherevatyy, spokesman for the Ukrainian army group in the east of the country, said in a TV interview. A conquest of the cities would not give the Kremlin control over the entire region.
