The Institute for the Study of War released a Thursday report claiming that Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kherson and the Donbas is taking its toll on the Russian high command.
Specifically, ISW pointed to Ukrainian victories outside the cities of Kharkiv and Russian-controlled Izyum as creating significant fissures within the Kremlin's "information space" and eroding confidence in their leadership.
Ukrainian forces reportedly moved 31 miles to Russian defensive positions in Balakliya on Thursday, but Moscow forces failed to acknowledge any such advancement. According to ISW, the silence caused an eruption of Russian internet backlash against the military.
Some war bloggers "claimed that Russian forces fully or partially withdrew from Balakliya in good order, while others complained that Ukrainian forces beat Russian forces out of the settlement," the report read.
"Others noted that Rosgvardia units operating in the area did not coordinate their defenses or have sufficient artillery capabilities to prevent Ukrainian counterattacks in the region," it added.
ISW further predicted that Ukrainian forces would capture the Russian-occupied city of Kupyansk within the next 72 hours, a victory that would severely hurt the Kremlin's ground communications to Izyum even more.
In response, Moscow appears to be sending more reinforcements to the region. On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry posted video footage showing the troop movements into Kharkiv, Newsweek reported.
"The enemy is being delayed as much as possible, but several settlements have already come under the control of Ukrainian armed formations," stated Kharkiv's Russian Gov. Vitaly Ganchev, Reuters noted.
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