Ukraine last week claimed that Russian forces have withdrawn from Kharkiv signaling that the Ukrainian army made some territorial gains. Kharkiv was intrinsic to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s plans but reports from news agencies and the Institute For The Study Of War (ISW) indicate that the Ukrainian armed forces were preparing to retake the city since the beginning of this month.
The ISW in its campaign assessment last week said that Russian forces continued to withdraw from the northern settlements around Kharkiv and the Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling the city and then ousted them from around the city similar to what they did in Kyiv.
The assessment also reflected that Moscow ‘is focused on conducting an orderly withdrawal and prioritizing getting Russians back home before allowing proxy forces to enter Russia.’ It further added that Russia is now focusing on encircling Severodonetsk from the north and Lysychansk and from the south.
The UK defense ministry on Sunday said that Russia likely lost one-third of the ground combat forces it committed in February. It also said that there are high attrition rates in the Russian army while adding that Donbas offensive has lost momentum.
Jack Detsch of Foreign Policy reported on May 9 that the Pentagon found that Russian officers are ‘refusing to obey orders or not following commands “with alacrity” in Donbas’.
He also pointed out that this has forced more generals to go into battle which also indicates that these incidents may have also happened in the initial weeks of the invasion when sections of Western media reported that prominent Russian generals were killed or wounded in the so-called military operation. Similar reports were received last week from Zaporizhzhia.
“Russian forces deployed to the Zaporizhzhia area reportedly are experiencing very low morale and psychological conditions, complain about the ineffectiveness of operations in the area, frequently abuse alcohol, and shoot at their own vehicles in order to avoid going to the frontline,” the ISW said in its daily assessment on May 9.
However, the western city of Lviv faced Russian attacks last week as their army targeted rail facilities and other critical infrastructure in and around the city which houses most Ukrainians who were forced to internally migrate due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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