Russia Still Wants To Occupy Kharkiv Region. ISW Indicates Signs

The Kremlin does not abandon its plans to annex Kharkiv region, turning it into another fake "republic."

This is the opinion of experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Back at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Russian propagandists stated that Kharkiv region is allegedly "an inalienable part of Russian land." Against the background of these statements, the occupation government in the region showed the flag, which should become the flag of the entire region under the rule of the Russian Federation. The flag was created on the basis of the image of the Russian imperial double-headed eagle and symbols from the Kharkiv coat of arms of the XVIII century.

“The Kharkiv Oblast occupation government’s explicit use of Imperial Russian imagery and rhetoric pointing clearly at annexation, rather than using imagery and rhetoric supporting the establishment of a “people’s republic,” reinforces ISW’s prior assessment that the Kremlin has broader territorial aims than capturing Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts or even holding southern Ukraine,” analysts said.

Besides, the ISW points to other signs of likely annexation and trends at the front:

• Russian forces continued to launch unsuccessful assaults northwest of Sloviansk and conducted offensive operations east of Siversk from the Lysychansk area.
• Russian forces continued localized attacks northwest of Kharkiv City, likely in an effort to defend Russian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) in the area.
• Russian forces continue to face personnel and equipment shortages, relying on old armored personnel carriers and launching new recruitment campaigns.
• Russian forces continued to set conditions for the annexation of Donbas, Kharkiv region, and the south of Ukraine.

At the same time, the invaders continue to use obsolescent Soviet military equipment and suffer from a shortage of personnel. To compensate for this, hidden mobilization is underway in the Russian Federation.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the invaders tried to conduct an offensive in Kharkiv region and fired at the region from Iskander.

On July 7, the British Ministry of Defense reported that there was a pause in the battles in the Donbas.

On July 6, British intelligence indicated that the Russian Federation had transferred most of the remaining parts of the Eastern and Western groups of forces to the Izium direction and was continuing its attack on Sloviansk.