Russia plans to focus its summer offensive on the Donetsk region — Palisa
The Office of the President predicts that the Russian military’s summer offensive will be concentrated on the Donetsk sector. Russian forces failed to achieve their objectives during the spring offensive. As Palisa noted, this summer the Russian military will focus on attempts to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk Oblast.
This was stated in an interview with Channel 24 by the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Brigadier General Pavlo Palisa.
"There are two weeks left until the start of summer. So, I think that, given the situation on the battlefield as of mid-May, they have not achieved the expected result. On the other hand, the Russians will be focused this year on reaching the administrative borders of the Donetsk region," the brigadier general noted.
In addition, Russian troops will also advance at the junction of the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. He added that the Russians failed to complete the tasks assigned by the military command by the set "deadlines." Palisa noted that Russia, in particular, planned to capture Kostiantynivka by the end of April, but its soldiers were unsuccessful.
"The Russian leadership tasked its forces with creating conditions and launching an assault on the Kramatorsk-Slovyansk agglomeration in late May–early June. It is clear that this task will also remain unfulfilled," said the deputy head of the Office of the President.
What led up to this?
Recently, The Economist noted that Russian troops have begun to lose ground in the war against Ukraine, despite the continued high intensity of fighting. In particular, it is noted that the nature of the hostilities has been gradually changing. The Russian spring offensive has effectively stalled, and personnel losses remain very high.
For the first time since October 2023, the Russian army has suffered small but significant territorial losses. This means that about 3 percent of Russia’s pre-war male population of draft age has been killed or wounded.
Russia has already launched its spring-summer offensive.
Russian occupiers are attempting to advance in the Pokrovsk direction
As a reminder, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the destruction of a Russian tactical group, a unit, and a UAV command post.
Russian troops have advanced near Riznykivka in the Donetsk region. Analysts at DeepState reported the change in the situation after updating the map of hostilities.
Over the course of May 1, Russian troops carried out 857 strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region. Dozens of settlements came under fire. In the Zaporizhzhia district, three people were wounded, and there is damage to housing and infrastructure.
