Russia Launches Summer Offensive, Analysts Say

The Facts

• Following days of increasing pressure on the Ukrainian frontlines, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) — a US military think tank that tracks battlefield progress in the war — reported that Russia's military manoeuvres since July 29 "are likely the manifestation of Russia's forecasted summer offensive."

• ISW said Tuesday that Russian forces conducted five platoon- to battalion-sized mechanized assaults since July 29 — concluding this was likely Russia's offensive as "Russian forces likely lack the wider operational capacity to mount a separate renewed offensive operation in Donetsk Oblast or elsewhere on the front this summer."

• Over the past day of fighting, ISW reported that Russia had made gains near Chasiv Yar, Avdiivka and west of Donetsk city in the Donetsk region, as well gains to the west in the Zaporizhzhia region.