The RF Army has increased the pace of advancement in Donbass - ISW.

The Institute for the Study of War has identified that Russian troops continue to move faster than expected and are not planning to capture the entire Donetsk region. This is confirmed by the recent successes of Russian forces near Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka. The front in the Donetsk region is becoming increasingly unstable as Russian troops continue to move faster than anticipated.

'Recent victories of Russian forces near Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka indicate that the war in Ukraine has not reached a stalemate. The front line in the Donetsk region is becoming increasingly unstable as Russian troops continue to move faster than expected,' the ISW findings reported.

Experts point out that Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine are moving, identifying and exploiting weaknesses in the Ukrainian front line. There was a miscalculation by ISW, which predicted the opposite development of events, considering the capture of Vuhledar by Russian forces.

The movement of Russian troops provides the command with several options for action, such as encircling Velyka Novosilka and conducting secondary operations to reduce the threat to the Russian forces. The Russian command aims to capture Pokrovsk by the end of 2024, but will temporarily deviate from this goal due to strong Ukrainian resistance.

'Ukraine successfully stopped Russian offensive operations near Chasiv Yar and Pokrovsk in 2024,' ISW noted.

The Russian command is likely planning to continue advancing in the southeastern part of the Dnipropetrovsk region to achieve its long-term goal of capturing the entire Donetsk region. This involves an offensive to the south and east of Selydove to cut off Ukrainian lines of communication and encircle Ukrainian positions.