{"id":1439035,"date":"2026-09-13T10:33:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T07:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/ukraine-seized-the-initiative-on-the-front-and-nullified-russias-territorial-gains-isw\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T10:33:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T07:33:49","slug":"ukraine-seized-the-initiative-on-the-front-and-nullified-russias-territorial-gains-isw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/ukraine-seized-the-initiative-on-the-front-and-nullified-russias-territorial-gains-isw\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine seized the initiative on the front and nullified Russia&#8217;s territorial gains \u2013 ISW"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In 2026, Ukrainian troops seized the initiative on the front, nearly eliminating the Russian army&#8217;s territorial gains and conducting a series of successful counteroffensive operations.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> This <a href=\"https:\/\/understandingwar.org\/research\/russia-ukraine\/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-12-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">is stated<\/a> in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).<\/p>\n<p> According to analysts, at the end of 2025 and throughout 2026, Ukrainian forces were able to effectively resist a Russian offensive initiative for the first time since the Kursk offensive operation in August 2024.<\/p>\n<p> Beginning in March, the Russian troops&#8217; net territorial gains virtually disappeared. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted counteroffensive operations in the Kupyansk, Oleksandrivsk, and Limansk directions.<\/p>\n<p> These actions, according to ISW, allowed the Ukrainian military to thwart a number of plans by the Russian command.<\/p>\n<p> In particular, the Ukrainian Armed Forces&#8217; counteroffensive halted Russian forces&#8217; attempts to advance into the Dnipropetrovsk region. In the Kupyansk sector, Ukrainian forces regained lost positions in the city and its environs and repelled further Russian attempts to recapture them.<\/p>\n<p> In addition, Ukrainian troops eliminated a significant Russian presence that posed a threat to the northern flank of Slavyansk and the entire Donetsk defensive belt.<\/p>\n<h3> Where the Russians have made progress<\/h3>\n<p> Despite losing the overall initiative, Russian forces continue to achieve localized successes. In particular, ISW is recording limited but significant Russian advances in and around Konstantinovka.<\/p>\n<p> Russian forces have also advanced east of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. However, they are having to make significant efforts in these areas to maintain the momentum of the advance.<\/p>\n<p> Analysts note that a similar situation is observed on other sections of the front. Therefore, the struggle for the initiative remains dynamic.<\/p>\n<h3> Russian command may demand mobilization<\/h3>\n<p> Amid problems with advancement, Russian commanders, according to ISW, are pressuring Vladimir Putin to carry out a large-scale mobilization.<\/p>\n<p> The likely goal of such a decision is to restore the Russian army&#8217;s ability to seize territory and regain the offensive initiative.<\/p>\n<p> At the same time, it remains unknown to what extent a new wave of mobilization could change the situation on the battlefield, if the Kremlin decides to carry it out.<\/p>\n<div class=\"full-post__content font-rules\">\n<p> Also follow <strong>&#8220;Pryamy&#8221;<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a> , <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">X<\/a> , <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2026, Ukrainian troops seized the initiative on the front, nearly eliminating the Russian army&#8217;s territorial gains and conducting a series of successful counteroffensive operations. This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). According to analysts, at the end of 2025 and throughout 2026, Ukrainian forces were able [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1334280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76875,76871,76872,76874],"class_list":["post-1439035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1439035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1334280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1439035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1439035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}