1 Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project 2022
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 20
Mason Clark, George Barros, and Kateryna Stepanenko
March 20, 4:00pm ET
Russian forces did not make any major advances on March 20. Russian forces around Kyiv are
increasingly establishing defensive positions and preparing to deploy further artillery and fire control assets.
Ukrainian forces repelled continuing Russian efforts to seize the city of Izyum, southeast of Kharkiv, and Russian
forces did not conduct any other offensive operations in northeast Ukraine. Russian forces continue to make slow
but steady progress on Luhansk Oblast and around Mariupol, but did not conduct any offensive operations
towards Mykolayiv or Kryvyi Rih.
Key Takeaways
• The Ukrainian General Staff reported for the first time that the Kremlin is preparing its
population for a “long war” in Ukraine and implementing increasingly draconian
mobilization measures, including deploying youth military organization members aged
17-18.
• Ukrainian forces reportedly killed three Russian regimental commanders in the last 24
hours.
• Russia’s Wagner Group will likely facilitate the deployment of Libyan fighters to Ukraine.
• Russian forces are digging in to positions around Kyiv, including the first reports of the
war of Russian forces deploying minefields.
• Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian assault on Izyum, southeast of Kharkiv, and inflicted
heavy casualties.
• Russian forces continued their slow advance into Mariupol but did not achieve any major
territorial gains.
• Ukrainian forces launched further localized counterattacks around Mykolayiv.