Page 39 - RusRPTFeb24

military troops, financial and logistics capabilities, as 145 world powers were considered. GFP has been ranking modern military powers based on current available firepower since 2006.
Russia's winter campaign of missile strikes is predominantly targeting Ukraine's military-industrial complex, Vadym Skibitskyi, a representative of Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR), said in an interview with RBC Ukraine on January 15. This marks a change from last winter when Ukraine's energy facilities were massively targeted, Skibitskyi said. The UK Defence Ministry also highlighted this shift in strategy in its January 3 intelligence report, noting that this may indicate that Russia anticipates a protracted war in which relative defence industrial capacity is of high importance.
The winter offensive of the Russian army in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions has failed, writes Bild. "Apart from the deaths of thousands of their soldiers and the loss of more than 400 armored vehicles, they have not achieved anything," the article states. At the same time, it is noted that it is not yet clear how long Ukraine will be able to maintain such active defensive actions and how much ammunition will be available. At the same time, the US recently made it clear that their support level will decrease significantly in the future. According to the WSJ's chief international correspondent, the US deliberately withheld military aid in sufficient quantity to support Ukraine’s counteroffensive so as not to provoke Putin into using nuclear weapons. Kyiv did not receive Western weapons precisely when they could have played a decisive role in 2022’s conflict. Currently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces is pointing to a shortage of guided anti-aircraft missiles because Ukraine has spent a considerable amount of them to repel the last three combined Russian attacks.
In December, Russian forces have gained 47 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukrainian forces have re-gained 1 square mile, according to the Jan. 2, 2024, issue of the Russia-Ukraine War Report Card. Russia’s recent gains in eastern Ukraine include a confirmed advance near the city of Kreminna in the Luhansk region, according to ISW. They also include the capture of the Donetsk region settlement of Marinka, which the Russian defense ministry claimed to have completed on Dec. 25 and which the Ukrainian military indirectly confirmed on Dec. 26 and on Jan. 4. The capture of Marinka represents a limited tactical gain but not a significant operational advance, unless Russian forces improved their "ability to conduct rapid mechanized forward movement,” according to ISW. In the south, Russia has recaptured land hard won by Ukrainian troops at the peak of their summer counteroffensive in the south, making progress around the southern village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region, NYT reported.
Russia mobilizing around 30,000 soldiers monthly. Russia is mobilizing around 30,000 people every month, or around 1,000-1,100 recruits daily, Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine published on Jan. 15.
39 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com