Battle Maps Reveal Russian Advances Along Whole Front Line

Russian forces will continue their ongoing offensives to hurt Ukraine’s defenses ahead of a renewed push planned for summer, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), whose maps show the latest state of play along the front line.

The independent Washington, D.C.-based think tank said Friday that Russia’s troops are trying “to maintain the tempo” of operations in Ukraine’s east. This is to stop Kyiv’s forces from stabilizing their defensive lines, which analysts have said is not happening quickly enough.

One military expert told Newsweek that Ukraine is not building long trenches like the Russians did last year but are developing fortifications based on “a system of strongpoints, placed in good positions.”

As they continue their offensives, Russian forces are readying themselves for a new push in summer and are concentrating on driving as far west of Avdiivka as they can before Ukraine establishes a harder-to-penetrate line in the area, the ISW said.

Following Russia’s capture of Avdiivka, in the Donetsk oblast last month, one ISW map shows how Russia forces had this week captured the town Nevelske and advanced in Pervomaiske to the southwest, and Berdychi to the northwest. Another map of the Luhansk oblast showed Russian advances on Synkivka, north of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that Russia was concentrating its efforts in the Avdiivka direction with daily mechanized and infantry assaults as they try to break through Ukrainian defenses.

Russian forces may push ahead with the offensive operations through spring, regardless of difficult weather and terrain conditions, to exploit Ukrainian equipment shortages before the promised Western security assistance arrives, the ISW said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on February 25 that there would be an audit of the fortifications for which Kyiv had set aside almost $790 million.

However, as Ukraine builds anti-tank ditches and trenches ahead of an expected Russian offensive in the spring, there are concerns that the fortifications were not being developed quickly enough.

Emil Kastehelmi, an open-source intelligence analyst, told Newsweek that even somewhat “mediocre fortifications with mines” can still play a key role in stopping Russia. Moscow’s forces will most likely try to advance into the spring, as Ukraine suffers from manpower issues.

“It seems Ukraine is digging long anti-tank ditches and building infantry fighting positions in multiple directions,” Kastehelmi said. “Ukraine has somewhat stabilized the front in Avdiivka at the moment, but the Russians still have much reserves that they can commit to the fight.

“Behind Avdijivka, Ukraine isn’t building long uniform trenches like the Russians had. It’s rather a system of strongpoints, placed in good positions,” Kastehelmi added. “Some of the fortresses used by Ukraine, especially in Donetsk, are older, from the war in Donbas.

“New ones are now being built among them, and the existing ones are being improved and expanded,” he said. “However, the Ukrainian forces have complained that the fortifications have not been created at a sufficient pace, which seems to be true at least in some areas in Donetsk.”