Russia launches wave of mechanized attacks on Ukraine

According to a new assessment, Russian forces have launched four separate armored vehicle attacks on Ukrainian positions along the eastern front line in recent days, as Moscow probes the strength of Kyiv’s defenses in the Donetsk region.

Russian troops attacked east of the strategically important town of Chasiv Yar and northwest of the captured former Ukrainian fortress of Avdiivka between Monday and Tuesday, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment of the war in Ukraine.

Moscow also carried out major mechanized attacks southwest of the Russian-controlled regional capital Donetsk and in the village of Staromajorske not far from the Donetsk-Zaporizhia border, the think tank said.

Russia had not made any “significant progress” but was probably hoping to test Ukraine’s response after a “first wave” of Russian attacks in northeastern Ukraine, the ISW judged.

Earlier this month, Kremlin forces opened a new front in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, rapidly gaining territory near the border. Late last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv’s troops in Kharkiv had “taken combat control of the border area into which the Russian occupiers have penetrated,” apparently contradicting reports from Russian officials.

Ukrainian officials and Western analysts said from the outset that despite the new offensive in the northeast, fighting continued to rage in the east of the country, where Russia has concentrated most of its resources for more than two years. The Ukrainian military has repeatedly reported fierce fighting east of Pokrovsk, a Donetsk town northwest of Avdiivka that has been under Russian control since February.

Moscow wants to force Ukraine to divert scarce resources from the eastern Donetsk region to Kharkiv, Kyiv officials said. Analysts suspected that Russia launched the attacks on Kharkiv to take advantage of the short window of opportunity before US military aid, approved by parliament late last month, is expected to reinforce Ukrainian troops.

Russia probably wants to check whether there are also “opportunities for exploitation” along the front line through Donetsk, the ISW said.

Newsweek The Russian Defense Ministry asked for comment via email.

Russia has made “minor advances” near Staromajorske and northwest of Avdiivka, the think tank said, but no Russian troop gains have been recorded near Chasiv Yar or Novomychailivka, southwest of Donetsk.

The Ukrainian armed forces said in an update late Tuesday evening local time that Russia had launched “intensive attacks” northwest of Avdiivka, including air strikes. Moscow had achieved “partial success” in some areas, Kyiv said, without providing further details.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had “improved” their positions northwest of Avdiivka.