What happened? russian troops are setting conditions for a controlled withdrawal from the western bank of the Dnieper River to avoid a defeat in Kherson Oblast.
Source. The report of analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Details. russian forces are setting conditions for a controlled withdrawal in northwestern Kherson Oblast, likely to avoid a disorderly rout from the right (west) bank of the Dnieper River.
The russian forces will likely have to engage in a fighting retreat to prevent Ukrainian forces from chasing them onto the left (eastern) bank, the report says.
“The russian military is likely trying to use mobilized personnel to restart the Donetsk offensive but will likely still fail to achieve operationally significant gains,” the statement says.
In addition, according to the report, russian president vladimir putin is likely setting conditions to continue covert mobilization, which suggests that partial mobilization did not generate sufficient forces for putin’s maximalist goals. However, russia’s force generation measures will probably continue to weigh on the russian economy and ignite social tensions.