Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 22
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 22
May 22, 2022 – Press ISW
Russian forces made only minimal gains in eastern Ukraine on May 22. New reporting confirmed that Russian troops previously recaptured Rubizhne in northern Kharkiv Oblast, on May 19. Russian forces are likely committing additional reinforcements to hold their positions on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River in northern Kharkiv—rather than withdrawing across the river to use it as a defensive position—to prevent any further Ukrainian advances to the north or the east that could threaten Russian lines of communication to the Izyum axis. Ukrainian sources additionally confirmed previous Russian-claimed advances around Popasna, and Russian forces likely seek to open a new line of advance north from Popasna to complete the encirclement of Severodonetsk while simultaneously driving west toward Bakhmut, though Russian forces are unlikely to be able to fully resource both lines of advance simultaneously. https://apis.google.com/u/0/se/0/_/+1/fastbutton?usegapi=1&size=large&count=false&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.understandingwar.org&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.understandingwar.org%2Fbackgrounder%2Frussian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-22&gsrc=3p&jsh=m%3B%2F_%2Fscs%2Fabc-static%2F_%2Fjs%2Fk%3Dgapi.lb.en.iTmf4rxOyWc.O%2Fd%3D1%2Frs%3DAHpOoo-LTnDn-AS2QlMWYZdnaV1OuFR7Iw%2Fm%3D__features__#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Concircled%2Cdrefresh%2Cerefresh&id=I0_1653272980162&_gfid=I0_1653272980162&parent=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.understandingwar.org&pfname=&rpctoken=84083044 https://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?action=&app_id=&channel=https%3A%2F%2Fstaticxx.facebook.com%2Fx%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2F%3Fversion%3D46%23cb%3Df289a95a7197cd4%26domain%3Dwww.understandingwar.org%26is_canvas%3Dfalse%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.understandingwar.org%252Ff71f4d722d4b5%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=0&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.understandingwar.org%2Fbackgrounder%2Frussian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-22&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&send=false&show_faces=false
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 21
May 21, 2022 – Press ISW
Russian forces intensified efforts to encircle and capture Severodonetsk on May 21 and will likely continue to do so in the coming days as efforts on other axes of advance, including Izyum, remain largely stalled. Russian troops in Luhansk Oblast will likely move to capitalize on recent gains made in the Rubizhne-Severodonetsk-Luhansk-Popasna arc to encircle and besiege Severodonetsk—the final Ukrainian strongpoint in Luhansk Oblast. Russian milbloggers are hypothesizing on the success of Russian tactics in the area and have dubbed it the Battle of Severodonetsk—emphasizing that this is the preliminary line of effort in the Donbas theatre.
