Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to intelligence, set his military another deadline for the complete occupation of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions - they must do this before March. He seems to have overestimated the capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), according to their February 2 report..

“Putin again overestimated the own capabilities of the Russian army, as ISW previously estimated. ISW has found no evidence that Russian forces have regained sufficient combat strength to defeat Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and capture more than 11,300 square kilometers of the unoccupied Donetsk region (more than 42% of the total area of \u200b\u200bthe region) by March, as Putin allegedly ordered..

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ISW has previously reported that the expected large Russian offensive is likely to end by April 2023 due to the spring monsoon (if not sooner) and fail before having significant operational effects..

“The climax of Russian forces could create favorable conditions for Ukrainian forces to use them in their own counter-offensive in late spring or summer 2023 after attracting supplies of Western tanks,” the report says..

Recall that earlier the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Andrey Yusov noted that Ukraine is on the eve of a " He predicted that active fighting would continue at the front in February-March.