"Active Defense": Putin wants to reduce the expectations of Russians that hide failures near Avdiivka - isw
In an interview with Russian state television, Putin said that Russian troops were "active defense" in Avdiivsky, Kupyansk and Zaporizhzhya. According to experts, the description of Putin of Russian military action in the Avdiivka area as "active defense" instead of "active fighting" may be an attempt to reduce expectations for the large -scale promotion of Russian troops.
"Russian troops are unlikely to make significant breakthroughs or cut Ukrainian forces in the settlement in the near future, and potential large -scale advancement will probably require considerable and long -term involvement of personnel and material means," the report reads. According to ISW, the Russian information space in general also reduces its initial optimism on the prospects of Russian offensive operations in the Avdiivka area.
The review states that Russian troops launched offensive operations for the purpose of Avdiivka's surroundings on October 15, but have not yet achieved significant success, possibly due to the slowdown in the pace of Russian military action in the area. Both Ukrainian military observers and Russian sources have stated that Russian troops did not reach the desired urgent breakthrough and encountered heavy losses and probably slower than expected, the pace of promotion.
However, Russian troops will probably continue offensive operations with reduced activity in the near future and will remain a threat to the Ukrainian forces in the area, although it is unlikely that they will be able to achieve a decisive breakthrough or environment of Avdiivka.
Analysts also indicate that the decline in Russian offensive operations can be the result of a temporary adaptation to a tactical environment, and invaders can activate their attempts to surround Avdiivka in the coming days. We will remind, on October 15 it was reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation per day lost the aircraft Su-25, "SolsPenk" and BMPT "Terminator".