Currently, there are no signs of preparations for such an operation by the aggressor's troops.
What do experts say about the rumors about the Russian plan to capture Kharkov
A possible offensive operation by Russian troops to capture Kharkiv will have serious problems both for the Russian forces responsible for its implementation and for the overall Russian campaign in Ukraine. Currently, there are no signs of preparations for such an operation by the aggressor's troops.
According to the Russian media, some Russian officials expressed hope that the increase in the number of troops will allow the Russian troops to conduct a future offensive operation to encircle Kharkiv.
Sources in the Russian edition of Verstka reported that recruits mobilized during the spring conscription cycle and "incompetent" reservists will apparently be sent to Russia's southern border to perform auxiliary functions or as border troops as part of an effort to free up more experienced servicemen for the offensive. to Kharkiv.
A source in the administration of the President of Russia told the publication that the Russian military needs 300,000 additional soldiers to begin the operation to encircle Kharkiv. The source also added that the Russian military hopes to capture the city without turning it into a "second Mariupol."
However, ISW notes in its report that a Russian offensive operation to encircle Kharkiv would be an extremely ambitious project. To do this, the Russians need long movements over open terrain, which they have not carried out since the beginning of a full-scale invasion.
The Institute notes that Russian troops are currently conducting an offensive operation along the Kupyansk-Svatov-Kreminna line, the goal of which is to reach the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region. However, even if these efforts succeed, the prospects for advancing Russian troops into Kharkiv Oblast from the eastern bank of the Oskil River are as difficult as, if not more difficult than, advancing along the international border with Belgorod Oblast.
Russian forces have committed relatively minimal forces to protect Russia's international borders, and these forces will not be sufficient for the operation to encircle Kharkiv. The announced plan to mobilize 300,000 new military personnel may allow Russian troops to release relatively combat-capable units along the front line in Ukraine for an operation to encircle the city. However, this will take place at the expense of offensive operations in those areas of the front, which the Russian military command considers a priority during the more than one and a half year campaign in Ukraine, says the ISW report.
The Institute previously assessed that Russian troops could conduct limited offensive operations along the international border with the Kharkiv region in order to draw back and pin down Ukrainian troops. In addition, such an operation could be an attempt by the Kremlin to respond to calls by ultra-nationalists to push the Armed Forces of Ukraine away from the border with Belgorod Oblast in order to distract Ukrainians from the ongoing Russian offensive along the Kharkiv-Luhansk Oblast axis.
ISW has not yet detected any signs that Russian forces are currently preparing for an offensive operation to encircle Kharkiv, the report said.
Operation from the "surroundings" of Kharkiv
It will be recalled that the Mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, called the information of rosZMI about the preparation of a covert mobilization for the surroundings of Kharkiv another enemy of the IPSO.
In February, the head of the press service of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group of troops at the time, Ilya Yevlash, said that the formation of a powerful group of Russians for a repeated attack on Kharkiv was not fixed.
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