ISW names priority directions for Russian forces in Ukraine

This is stated in the ISW report: https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-14

Active hostilities are taking place in the following areas:

• Kharkiv and the northeastern part of the Kharkiv region. ISW says Russian Western District troops are fighting there

• Izyum - Slovyansk. The battles are probably being fought by recently formed Russian volunteer battalions

• Siversk - Lysychansk district. Military of the Russian Central District

• Bakhmut. ISW notes that units of the Wagner private military company (PMC) have been actively involved in Russia's attempts to conquer the territory around Bakhmut and probably contributed to recent successes in this area

• Avdiyivka - Donetsk city district.  DPR militants are taking an active part in the war against Ukraine here, experts say

• South of Ukraine. The Russian troops of the Southern and Eastern Military Districts, the paratroopers and the Red Guards are engaged in this direction.

Analysts emphasize that none of these groups is homogeneous - units of various military districts, volunteer units and other formations are scattered throughout the direction. These dispositions indicate that Moscow prefers to advance its troops around Bakhmut and, perhaps, to Siversk, while trying to use the activity of the forces of the so-called DPR to capture territories that they have not managed to capture since 2014 in the Avdiyivka direction.

"The high concentration of volunteer battalions around Izyum and Slovyansk indicates that this area is not in the focus of Russia's attention and may be vulnerable to Ukrainian counterattacks," the report says.

A buildup of forces in and around the Kherson region could create significant difficulties for Russian command and control, especially if Ukrainian forces continue a counteroffensive there, experts say.

The Institute noted that the composition of Russian troops along the Southern direction is relatively more diverse than in other directions. The Russian military leadership probably sent mixed forces to this area to protect it from the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Key conclusions of the Institute's analysts:

• Russian forces launched ground attacks north of Kharkiv, northwest of Slovyansk, east of Siversk, and made unspecified gains around Bakhmut

• Ukrainian troops struck the concentration of Wagner PMCs in Popasna, Luhansk region, causing casualties

• 42 countries called on Russian troops to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Energodar just two to four hours before the next strike on Energodar

• Ukrainian troops struck the Antoniv highway bridge, probably rendering all three highway bridges to and from the right bank of the Dnieper unusable for heavy equipment

• Russian military commissions continue to face difficulties in attracting Russians to sign contracts for military service

• Russian occupation authorities continued to take rublevization measures and collect data on the civilian population in the occupied territories in order to create conditions for "referendums" on annexation.