Section: The Centre for Eastern Studies (Poland)
Russia: the decision to escalate the war with Ukraine
On 20 September, the authorities of the puppet so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in the Russian-occupied part of the Ukrainian Donbas, as well as the Russian administrations of occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, decided to hold ‘referendums’ on the annexation of these territories to Russia. These...
Slowdown on the frontline. War after 207 days
The main arena of fighting remains the Donbas. Ukrainian forces are repelling attacks in the Bakhmut area and localities southeast and south. Russian assaults are also being held southwest of Donetsk, while the frequency of hostile strikes northwest of the city and in the Avdiivka area has decreased. According to unconfirmed reports, Ukrainians...
Ukraine consolidates in Kharkiv Oblast. War after 204 days
Ukrainian forces have entered more villages in the recovered areas – Velyki Prokhody and Mali Prokhody north of Kharkiv. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malar reported that as of 6 September, an area of nearly 8,500 square kilometres in the Kharkiv Oblast with 388 villages and 150,000 inhabitants had been liberated. According to the head of the...
Frontline stabilisation. War after 202 days
Ukrainian forces continue to take control of the previously occupied part of the Kharkiv region – up to and including 13 September, they have seized an area of nearly 4,000 km² with 300 villages and 150,000 inhabitants. A further 4,000 km² of recaptured territory awaits so-called stabilisation operations. The Ukrainian side reports that the...
Ukrainians retake Kharkiv Oblast. 200 days of war
As a result of the continuation of the advance in the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian units have seized, among others, Kupansk, the junction town of Savyntsi, located between Balakliia and Izyum, and Izyum itself (although this has not yet been officially confirmed by the Ukrainian side). There is no confirmation of reports that part of the Russian...
Total defence. Six months of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine
After six months of war, Ukraine can celebrate success – due to the mobilisation of its entire population to fight, and to unceasing reconnaissance and logistics support from the West, it continues to successfully defend itself. Russia, in turn, has failed to attain its initial objectives, including the “denazification” and “demilitarisation” of...
War as the new normal: Ukraine six months since the Russian invasion
On 24 August 2021 Ukraine was celebrating the beginning of the fourth decade of its independence. Selected units of its Armed Forces paraded through Khreshchatyk, Kyiv’s main street. It would never have occurred to the Ukrainian citizens and politicians or foreign guests who gathered on that day in Kyiv that half a year later the same units...
Russia’s attack on Ukraine: day 186
The fighting in the Donetsk Oblast did not bring significant changes. Russian forces approached Bakhmut from the south-east, attacking the defenders’ positions in the village of Vesela Dolyna, neighbouring the city. The Ukrainians are still defending themselves in the villages northeast of Bakhmut (Soledar, Bakhmuts’ke), on its...
Russia’s attack on Ukraine: day 182
As warned by the Ukrainian side, the number of Russian rocket attacks increased significantly on Ukraine’s Independence Day, 24 August. The city of Dnipro and the Chaplyne railway station in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast were hit – the attack there was the bloodiest of those carried out that day: at least 25 people were killed and 31 wounded....
Russia’s attack on Ukraine: day 179
In the Donetsk Oblast, fighting is ongoing in six directions, with the most serious operations in the area of Bakhmut, west of Horlivka and north-west of Donetsk. Defenders are holding positions east of the roads connecting Bakhmut with Siversk and Horlivka, as well as in localities north-east and south-east of the city. The direct assault on...
