Experts from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that Russian forces in the Avdiivka area can choose in which direction to focus their offensive operations after the breakthrough near the village of Oceretine in the Donetsk region, the BBC reports.
As mentioned in the latest ISW report on the situation on the front, the Russian army may try to advance either in the western direction (towards the city of Pokrovsk) or to advance north towards Cheasov Yar, an important stronghold of the Ukrainian armed forces.
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“Russian forces have many tactical options to choose from for a future offensive near Avdiivka, but it remains unclear where they will focus their efforts in the near future,” the report’s authors wrote.
Earlier, ISW experts said that Russia could make significant tactical gains in the coming weeks, but was unlikely to be able to break through Ukrainian defenses quickly.
The Russian army has the opportunity to achieve operationally significant objectives in the city of Ceasov Yar, but instead spends its energy on expanding and deepening the breakthrough near Oceretine, where achieving such objectives is much less realistic, ISW experts estimate .
Russian forces have not been able to make significant progress in the direction of Avdiivka in the last 24 hours, conclude the authors of the report published on the night of April 30.
