ISW ( Institute for the Study of War) announced which territories Russia is determined to occupy in the war
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported the most active military operations, as well as the priority areas for the Russian Federation in the war against Ukraine.
According to the ISW report, the invaders and the Ukrainian military are actively fighting in the following areas: the city of Kharkiv and the northeastern part of Kharkiv region along the Izyum-Slavyansk line; Siversko-Lisichansky district; Bachmut; Region of Avdeyevka-Donetsk cities; Southern Ukraine.
According to ISW, these positions indicate that the Kremlin prefers to advance its forces around Bakhmut and possibly in Siversk, while taking advantage of the activity of the so-called "DPR" forces, which since 2014 have moved to Avdeyevka or they are trying to occupy the territories they could not reach.
The large concentration of volunteer battalions around Izyum and Slavyansk shows that this area is not the focus of Russian attention and cannot withstand Ukrainian counterattacks.
According to the report, the concentration of Ukrainian Armed Forces in and around the Kherson region, especially if they continue to counteroffensive, could pose serious challenges to Russian command and control. At the same time, ISW noted that the composition of Russian troops along the southern route is relatively diverse compared to other routes.
On February 21 of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in the Kremlin recognizing the self-proclaimed independent Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine . Later, the Russian Federation declared that it recognized the republics on the borders of the regions of the same name, increasing the risk of war against Ukraine.
Following Putin's emergency decision, the US , EU, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and Japan officials also introduced sanctions against Russia .
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian military had launched a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine's Donbass, and Russian troops launched an offensive against Ukraine. Putin justified this action by the fact that the leaders of the pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine sent such a request .
Earlier, Zelensky addressed the citizens of Russia in Russian and said that Ukrainians "do not need a cold, hot, or hybrid war" and that Ukrainians are ready to meet the attackers. Soon after, the President severed diplomatic ties with Russia. President Zelensky declared martial law in the country .
On February 25, Zelensky announced a general military mobilization in Ukraine. It was decided that the call to the army will be carried out in a number of regions and cities of the country.
Russian troops have been attacking Ukraine from the north, east and south until now and have succeeded in occupying a number of territories. But this war led to the isolation of Russia in the world.
The start of the attack on Ukraine dealt a heavy blow to the Russian economy. Shares of Russian companies fell sharply, trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange was at an unprecedented level. Gazprom, LUKOIL and other large companies suffered losses.
After the attack, the European countries and the USA introduced several stages of sanctions against Russia. Russian banks VTB, Bank of Russia, Otkritiya, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Sovkombank and VEB.RF have been disconnected from the SWIFT international interbank system. The USA and the European Union have blocked Russia's gold-currency reserves .
European countries, USA, Canada closed their airspace for Russia . Switzerland, which is considered a neutral country, joined these sanctions. Against the background of the war, the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union accelerated .
European countries have already started to replace the supply of Russian oil. For example, at the end of May, the United Arab Emirates resumed oil supplies to Europe after a two-year break.