ISW names Putin's further goals after capture of Luhansk region

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) shared its report.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev reiterated Russian President Vladimir Putin's initial goals for the so-called operation in Ukraine, suggesting that the Kremlin maintains its goals, including regime change and territorial expansion far beyond Donbas.

"Patrushev’s explicit restatement of Putin‘s initial objectives, nearly five months later, strongly indicates that the Kremlin does not consider recent Russian gains in Luhansk Oblast sufficient to accomplish the initial goals of the 'special operation', supporting ISW’s ongoing assessment that the Kremlin has significant territorial aspirations beyond the Donbas. Patrushev’s statement suggests that Russian military leadership will continue to push for advances outside Donetsk and Luhansk blasts and that the Kremlin is preparing for a protracted war with the intention of taking much larger portions of Ukraine," the report said.

ISW report highlights

• Russian troops continued their offensive to the northwest and east of Slovyansk.

• Russian troops are trying to advance west from the Lysychansk district in the direction of Siversk.

• Russian troops are likely trying to gain access to rural roads southeast of Bakhmut in order to advance on the town from the south.

• Ukrainian forces launched a limited counterattack southwest of Donetsk.

• Russian troops continued limited and unsuccessful assaults in the north of the Kharkiv region.

• Russian authorities are intensifying conscription measures in the occupied territories in order to compensate for the loss of manpower.

• The Kremlin continues to consolidate administrative control over the occupied territories of Ukraine, which will likely create conditions for the direct annexation of these territories to the Russian Federation.