ISW says about new goal of Ukrainian forces in south

The U.S. Institute for the Study of War has said in its report that the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive in southern Ukraine is an intentionally methodical operation to degrade Russian forces and logistics, rather than one aimed at immediately recapturing territories.

Ukrinform reports this with reference to Channel 24.

 “The assessment of the Institute for the Study of War coincides with words of Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Oleksiy Arestovych in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on September 3 that the current goal of Ukrainian forces in the south is the ‘systemic grinding’ of the Russian troops. The Armed Forces are gradually destroying Russia's operational logistical supply system with artillery and precision weapon strikes,” the report reads.

The ISW noted that Arestovych’s statement echoes ISW’s assessment that the ongoing counteroffensive will likely not result in immediate gains and that Ukrainian forces seek to disrupt key logistics nodes that support Russian operations in the south and chip away at Russian military capabilities.

"Thus, more lives of Ukrainian defenders can be saved. That is why the tactics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received a positive assessment from British intelligence - they announced Saturday that our troops had achieved a tactical ‘surprise’. Due to a large area of the front, the occupiers may be faced with a choice - which direction to redirect their troops," the report reads.

On February 24, Russia began a new phase of the eight-year war against Ukraine - a full-scale offensive. The enemy massively shell and bombards peaceful Ukrainian cities and villages. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Territorial Defense Forces and the entire Ukrainian people are effectively resisting the Russian troops and inflicting heavy losses on them.

iy