ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 1, 2023

Key Takeaways

• Russian, Ukrainian, and Western sources observed that the Russian winter offensive has failed to achieve the Kremlin’s goals of seizing all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts by March 31.
• Growing Russian speculation about Russian military command changes likely indicates that Russia may soon reshuffle its senior military command due to the failed winter offensive.
• Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks along the Svatove-Kreminna line.
• Russian forces did not make any confirmed gains in or around Bakhmut and continued offensive operations along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City frontline.
• Russian forces continued to build defenses in occupied southern Ukraine.
• Russia began its semi-annual conscription on April 1, the largest conscription call-up since 2016.
• Russian occupation officials continue to deport Ukrainian children to Russia under rest-and-rehabilitation schemes.
• Russian nationalist figures criticized Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for failing to pursue the Union State between Russia and Belarus efforts since mid-1990s.

Authors: Riley Bailey, Kateryna Stepanenko, Nicole Wolkov, and Frederick W. Kagan.

See full report here.