1 Institute for the Study of War & The Critical Threats Project 2022
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 6
Fredrick W. Kagan, George Barros, and Kateryna Stepanenko
March 6, 2:00 PM EST
The military situation on the ground has not changed significantly in the past 24 hours.
Russian forces continue to mass for renewed offensive operations east and west of Kyiv,
west of Kharkiv, and toward Mykolayiv-Odesa but have not yet initiated new large-scale
ground attacks. Russia has increased aerial and artillery/rocket attacks on civilian
positions and infrastructure, including known evacuation corridors. Ukrainian forces
reportedly conducted a second counter-attack in two days, this time near Mariupol. The
Ukrainian air force and air defense forces continue to operate, inflicting damage on
Russian ground forces and disrupting Russian air and missile operations.
Key Takeaways
• Russian forces spent the past 24 hours largely regrouping and preparing for
renewing offensive operations around Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolayiv.
• The Ukrainian General Staff reports the presence of a large concentration of
Russian forces west of Kharkiv that it assesses will launch a wide offensive
southwest toward the Dnipro River, although no such offensive has begun as of this
publication.
