World Affairs International

Ukraine has repelled ongoing Russian offensives along the line of contact since the fall of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Some analysts have claimed that Russia has entered an ‘operational pause’ to recover and consolidate combat power to push for Donetsk. Others argue that Russia’s advances have been halted due to the increasing effect of Western heavy weapons. For the last remains of Donetsk Oblast, the fighting has not ceased, with constant Russian artillery fire battering cities.

Yet Russia has, even before the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces in Luhansk, fruitlessly attacked areas ner Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, with limited or no success. Often, Ukrainian forces have made confirmed successful counterattacks, small in scale but crucial for morale purposes.

The gradual halt of Russian forces has turned the war into a battle of attrition, allowing for slow Ukrainian recovery of terrain in Kharkiv. If Ukraine wishes for a rapid offensive in Kherson, it will need to rely on forcing Russian commanders to admit defeat and withdraw, as otherwise, Russia could maintain a receding defensive line for a long time.