According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian invaders' new offensive in the Kharkiv region has several key goals that are not directly related to the capture of the region's territory.
What is Putin's Kharkiv offensive for?
According to the ISW team, the Kremlin is primarily counting on being able to:
withdraw the forces of the Armed Forces from other directions,
advance to Kharkiv within range of artillery fire,
create a "buffer zone" to protect Belgorod and limit Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in this region.
In addition, it is emphasized that the Russian army conducts relatively limited offensive operations along the Russian-Ukrainian border in the north of the Kharkiv region.
The announced number of Russian units participating in these limited operations, as well as the grouping of Russian troops deployed along the border in northeastern Ukraine, indicates that Russian forces are not conducting a large-scale operation to encircle or capture the city of Kharkiv, the ISW team notes.
American analysts also add that the Russian army was able to advance at least to the outskirts of Ogirtseve and Gatyshche.
Russian starts offensive in the north of thee Kharkiv regions: first details
On May 10, the Russian invaders tried to break through the Ukrainian defence line under cover of armoured vehicles.
The Armed Forces soldiers managed to stop the Russian Federation's soldiers and push them back.
Subsequently, the head of state, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, officially confirmed that additional forces were being sent to Kharkiv areas.
According to Nazar Voloshin, the OSTG "Khortytsya" speaker, the Russian Army is trying to distract the key forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions with demonstration actions in the border zone in the Kharkiv region.
