Russian invaders have focused their offensive on the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. Currently, more than 20,000 Nazis are storming the city. This was stated by Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops.
According to him, units of the 217th Parachute Regiment of the 98th Airborne Division of the Russian Airborne Forces are fighting against the Ukrainian military on the frontline near the town of Chasiv Yar.
According to analysts, the enemy’s offensive in the Avdiivka area is aimed at using only opportunities for advancement, while their operation near Chasovyi Yar is a “real threat to capture the city.” This assumption was made by analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
Russian troops pose a real threat to capture Chasovy Yar, although they may not be able to do so quickly.
Analysts at the Institute for War Studies noted that Russian offensive operations west of Avdiivka could provide tactical advantages. And the Russian offensive to capture Chasovyi Yar opens up immediate prospects for Russian troops to make an operationally significant advance.
Russian troops in the Avdiivka area remain approximately 30 km from their intended operational objective, Pokrovsk, and approximately 17 km from relatively large villages east of the district center.
Russian troops, who are currently stationed on the eastern outskirts of Chasovyi Yar, have been stepping up efforts to capture the city since March 2024. Now, analysts believe, they offer the occupiers “immediate prospects for a significant operational advance” as the capture of the city is likely to “allow them to launch further operations” against the cities that form a significant Ukrainian defense belt in Donetsk region.
Russian troops are likely to try to capture as much territory as possible before the arrival of U.S. military assistance significantly improves Ukraine’s defensive capabilities in the coming weeks. Russian commanders may intensify their offensive northwest of Avdiivka, as this area provides more opportunities for strikes, despite the relative operational insignificance of these gains.
Even if Russian tactical successes force Ukrainian forces to retreat to positions further west, the current Russian advances northwest of Avdiivka are unlikely to be operationally significant in the short term.