UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 404 - APRIL 1, 2023

Russian, Ukrainian, and Western sources were able to determine on April 1 that the Russian winter offensive did not achieve the Kremlin's goal of taking control of the administrative boundaries of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts by March 31.

The Chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, had announced on December 22 that the Russian armed forces would primarily focus on taking control of the Donetsk region, and the Russian forces began their winter offensive in early February along the line of Kupjansk-Svatove-Kreminna-Liman and selected frontlines in the west of the Donetsk region. The British Ministry of Defense notes that Gerasimov, upon his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian theater of war, failed to expand Russian control over the Donbass region and only made marginal progress through the use of mobilized personnel. The representative of the Ukrainian intelligence service, Andriy Yushov, stated that Gerasimov did not meet the deadline set by the Kremlin for taking control of the Donbass by March 31.

The full Russian Offensive Update 404 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

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