Russia's military failures near Vuhledar weaken Russians' faith in large-scale offensive in eastern Ukraine - ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported this. 

The ISW experts drew attention to the Russian milbloggers' reaction to the reports of the Russian army's tactical failures near Vuhledar in the Donetsk region. It is noted that they criticize the Russian military command for repeating the failures that plagued the Russian army during the war in Ukraine.

“Russian forces’ reported culmination and tactical failures around Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast, have likely further weakened the Russian ultranationalist community’s belief that Russian forces are able to launch a decisive offensive operation,” the ISW noted. 

For example, one of the Kremlin's milbloggers noted that Russia was unable to advance quickly in the first days of its offensive to capture Vuhledar. In this case, the occupying forces lost the initiative due to the rapid deployment of Ukrainian reserves to the region.

“The milblogger made his assessment that the Russian offensive to capture Vuhledar has likely culminated in response to viral footage showing Ukrainian forces destroying a disorderly column of Russian mechanized forces in the Vuhledar area,” the analysts say. 

• Earlier, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Andrii Cherniak, said that Russia would not be able to launch a large-scale offensive in the east by February 24 due to a lack of resources.