1 Institute for the Study of War & AEI’s Critical Threats Project 2022
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment
Mason Clark, George Barros, and Kateryna Stepanenko
March 22, 6:00 pm ET
Russian forces did not make any major advances on March 22 and Ukrainian forces conducted local
counterattacks northwest of Kyiv and around Mykolayiv. Russian forces around Kyiv and other major
cities are increasingly prioritizing long-range bombardment after the failure of Russian ground
offensives but are unlikely to force major cities to surrender in this manner. Russian forces did not
conduct any offensive operations toward the northeastern Ukrainian cities of Chernihiv, Sumy, or
Kharkiv in the last 24 hours. Russian forces continued to further reduce the Mariupol pocket.
Key Takeaways
• Russian forces are likely moving to a phase of protracted bombardment of
Ukrainian cities due to the failure of Russia’s initial campaign to encircle and seize
Kyiv and other major cities.
• Ukrainian forces conducted successful localized counterattacks northwest of Kyiv.
• Russian forces in northeastern Ukraine did not conduct any offensive operations
in the past 24 hours.
• Ukrainian forces repelled several Russian assaults in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts
in the past 24 hours.
• Russian forces continue to make slow but steady progress reducing the Mariupol
pocket.
• Russia may have failed to appoint an overall commander for its invasion of
Ukraine, leading to Russian axes of advance competing for limited supplies and
failing to synchronize their operations.
