Ukraine War Maps Reveal Russian Advances Along Whole Front Line

Russian forces have advanced along the front line in Ukraine, battlefield maps published by a U.S. think tank show, as Ukraine warns that Moscow is preparing for a major offensive in the east.

Maps released by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, on Sunday, show that Russian forces have made progress in Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which together comprise the Donbas.

The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email for comment.

In the Luhansk region, Russian forces advanced northwest of the city of Svatove, and geolocated footage published on Sunday indicates that they recently advanced into the rural settlement of Ivanivka, northwest of Svatove, the ISW said.

While the Russian Ministry of Defense has claimed that Russian forces seized Ivanivka, the ISW said it hasn't observed confirmation of this.

Near the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the ISW observed that Russian forces had recently made small advances southwest of the captured fortress city of Avdiivka amid continued fighting in the area.

It said geolocated footage published Sunday indicates that Russian forces recently advanced within the western outskirts of the village of Netaylove, southwest of Avdiivka.

Russian military bloggers claimed that Netaylove was seized by a Russian brigade.

Elsewhere in the region, Russian forces recently made some gains west of Donetsk city amid continued fighting in the area on Sunday, the ISW said.

"Geolocated footage published on May 25 indicates that Russian forces recently marginally advanced during a roughly platoon-sized mechanized assault within central Krasnohorivka (west of Donetsk City)," the think tank said.

A Russian military blogger claimed that a Russian brigade advanced to 400 meters within Krasnohorivka city.

Russian troops continue to push in the Kharkiv region after kick-starting an offensive on May 10. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 16 that Moscow's forces had advanced some 6 miles into the Krasnohorivka region but that his forces were successfully stabilizing the situation.

"In the directions of some enemy brigades, there is no progress at all," he said.

Zelensky warned on Sunday that Russian forces are preparing for a new offensive close to the border with Ukraine. This could be part of an attempt to draw Kyiv's troops to the area and "prepare for offensive operations that aim to expand the Russian foothold in the international border area in northeastern Ukraine," the ISW said.

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