After a month of heavy fighting, Russian forces now control the majority of Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian soldiers are holding the industrial zone.
This is stated in the daily British intelligence update on Twitter.
"Russia’s urban warfare tactics, which are reliant on heavy use of artillery, have generated extensive collateral damage throughout the city. Elements of Ukrainian Armed Forces, along with several hundred civilians, are sheltering in underground bunkers in the Azot Chemical Plant, in the city’s industrial zone,” the message says.
Further, Russian forces are likely to be concentrated around the Azot Chemical Plant and, whilst the Ukrainian defenders are holding on, the Russian Federation is unlikely to be able to throw these units on other tasks.
"It is highly unlikely that Russia anticipated such robust opposition, or such slow, attritional conflict during its original planning for the invasion," the update adds.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in a previous update they predicted that Russia, even by increasing spending on the army, would most likely have problems replenishing equipment due to the impact of Western sanctions and a lack of experience in some areas.
It is also expected that in the coming months, success in crossing rivers will become one of the most important determining factors during the war.
According to CNN, the West is considering three possible scenarios for the further development of the war.
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