UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 99 - MAY 28, 2022

The Russian President Vladimir Putin inflicts unspeakable suffering on Ukrainians and demands terrible sacrifices from his own people to take a city that is not even worth the price to him.

The Russian invasion in Ukraine, aimed at taking over the entire country, has turned into a desperate and bloody offensive that now seeks to capture a single city in the East, while defending key but limited gains in the South and East. Ukraine has forced Putin to clarify his military objectives twice. Ukraine defeated Russia in the battle for Kyiv, forcing Putin to reduce his subsequent military objectives to seizing the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine is preventing him from achieving even this goal, forcing him to focus solely on capturing the Luhansk region. Putin is now throwing men and ammunition at the last remaining major population center in that area, Severodonetsk, as if taking this city would win the war for the Kremlin. He is mistaken. Once the battle for Severodonetsk is over, the Russian offensive is likely to have reached its peak at the operational and strategic level, giving Ukraine the opportunity to resume its counter-offensive at the operational level to push back Russian forces.

Russian forces continue their ground assault on Severodonetsk and its surroundings, achieving limited success.

Russian forces in Kharkiv continue to focus on preventing a Ukrainian counter-offensive at the international border between Kharkiv and Belgorod.

Ukrainian forces have launched a counter-offensive near the border between Kherson and Mykolaiw regions, about 70 km northeast of Kherson city, possibly crossing the Inhulets River. At the same time, Ukrainian partisan activities continue to inflict costs on Russian occupation forces in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The full Russian Offensive Update 99 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

UNDERSTANDING WAR online