The counter-offensive of Ukraine has swung the direction of the ongoing battle decisively in their favour, believes the American think tank the Insitute for the Study of War (ISW).
During the early phase of the war, Ukrainian forces defended themselves against Russian attacks, but now the situation has reversed, the think tank writes in its recent analysis.
Ukraine now dictates the terms of the war, including when and where battles take place; Russian troops now find themselves on the back foot. ISW stresses the psychological advantage.
Battles in the south, east, and north of Ukraine have allowed Ukrainian forces to take back 3,000 square kilometres of Russian-occupied territory, according to Ukrainian General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi. “In the Kharkiv direction, we began to advance not only to the south and east, but also to the north,” Zaluzhnyi wrote on Telegram, adding that the Ukrainian military is now only 50 kilometres from the Russian border.
Russia has ordered its troops to withdraw from the occupied Kharkiv Oblast, according to the latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), with Ukraine recapturing territory twice the size of Greater London.
Near Kherson (south Ukraine), Russia is likely struggling to get supplies across the Dnipro River to the front line, the MoD continued, adding that the success of the Ukrainian attacks has “significant implications” for Russia’s operational plans and that trust in Russia’s senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further.