1 Instute for the Study of War and AEI’s Crical Threats Project 2023
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 23, 2023
Grace Mappes, Nicole Wolkov, Kateryna Stepanenko and Frederick W. Kagan
May 23, 2023, 8:00pm ET
Click here to see ISW’s interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This map is
updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.
Click here to access ISW’s archive of interactive time-lapse maps of the Russian invasion
of Ukraine. These maps complement the static control-of-terrain map that ISW produces
daily by showing a dynamic frontline. ISW will update this time-lapse map archive
monthly.
Note: The data cutoff for this product was 4pm ET on May 23. ISW will cover subsequent
reports in the May 24 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment.
Russian authorities ended the “counterterrorism” operation in Belgorod Oblast and
claimed to have defeated the all-Russian pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK)
and the Freedom of Russia Legion (LSR) in the region on May 23. The Russian Ministry of
Defense (MoD) claimed that Western Military District (WMD) Border Guards units defeated the raid
and expelled all “saboteurs” from Belgorod Oblast.
Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov
announced that the “counterterrorism” operation had ended but called on civilians who evacuated to
wait before returning to the border settlements.
Russian authorities later announced on May 23 that
authorities evacuated 100 civilians from nine border settlements in Belgorod Oblast on May 22 after
Gladkov originally denied conducting formal evacuations.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov
stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold an emergency meeting of the Russian
Security Council to discuss the Belgorod raid but will instead discuss the situation during the Security
Council’s planned May 26 meeting, likely in an effort to project confidence about Russian handling of
the situation.
Russian forces likely pushed the RDK and LSR forces at least to the Kozinka border
settlement and possibly out of Russian territory as of May 23. Kozinka is located
approximately 76km southeast of Sumy City. Russian sources amplified footage of Russian forces firing
on RDK and LSR vehicle positions near the Kozinka border checkpoint overnight and claimed that
Russian forces recaptured Kozinka and its border checkpoint in the morning.
Geolocated footage from
Russian state media shows damaged and destroyed vehicles at the checkpoint.
Some Russian sources
claimed that RDK and LSR forces entrenched themselves in the Kozinka church but that preliminary
reports suggest Russian forces may have ousted the Ukrainian forces by the evening.
Russian sources
claimed that Russian forces began clearing operations in Kozinka and Glotovo (immediately east of
Kozinka) on May 23.
Geolocated footage posted on May 23 shows the aftermath of shelling Gora Podol
(about 6km northwest of Kozinka) and Russian infantry conducting patrols between Grayvoron (about
7km northwest of Kozinka) and Gora Podol, suggesting that RDK and LSR personnel no longer hold or
never held positions in the settlement.
It is unclear whether the RDK and LSR captured any villages
on May 22 or May 23, however. The LSR claimed that LSR and RDK personnel continued to operate in
Belgorod Oblast on May 23, however.
Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted raids across the Kharkiv-
Belgorod border on May 23, but ISW has observed no confirmation that these raids
occurred. Some Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian and Ukraine-affiliated formations –
