19 February 2024, Monday, 15:14 1262

Russia launches offensive on 3 axes at once. ISW names cause

Editor: Tetiana Herasimova

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Delays in Western security assistance to Ukraine help russia conduct offensive operations simultaneously in several areas of the front, providing an opportunity to exert pressure on Ukrainian forces on different axes.

This is stated in the russian Offensive Campaign Assessment by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) as of February 18, 2024.

According to analysts, russian troops are currently conducting at least three offensive operations:

along the border of the Kharkiv and Luhansk Regions, in particular in the direction of Kupiansk and Lyman;
in and around Avdiivka;
near Robotyne in the west of the Zaporizhzhia Region.

According to ISW and several Ukrainian and Western sources, delays in Western security assistance, namely artillery ammunition and critical air defense systems, prevented Ukrainian troops from defending Avdiivka from the russian offensive.

A critical shortage of equipment provided by the West and fears of a complete cessation of U.S. military aid forced Ukrainian troops to disperse equipment throughout the front, which likely encouraged russian troops to take advantage of the situation.

They launched an offensive outside Avdiivka - along the border of the Kharkiv and Luhansk Regions since the beginning of January 2024 and in the western part of the Zaporizhzhia Region within the last 48 hours.

The ISW believes that this russian offensive is likely to prevent Ukrainian troops from preparing personnel and equipment to resume counter-offensive operations.

Ukraine will suffer if it simply digs in and tries to defend itself by the end of 2024, as some Western powers and analysts advocate.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on the night of February 19, russian occupation troops tried to repeat the offensive on the Zaporizhzhia axis. The defense forces of Ukraine thwarted the enemy's plans and inflicted losses.

Meanwhile, after the capture of Avdiivka, Donetsk Region, russian invaders attempted massive assaults near Lastochkyne, but the Ukrainian Defense Forces successfully repelled enemy attacks. The enemy made these attacks with a significant number of infantry, but all these attempts were unsuccessful for the enemy.