The president of the aggressor country, Vladimir Putin, may have ordered the capture of Kharkiv and the non-occupied part of Kharkiv region.
This is stated in the daily report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
ISW analysts note that so far there is only circumstantial evidence that may point to Putin's order to capture Kharkiv and the region.
In particular, analysts note that since June 26, the Russians have been trying to capture Dementiivka, a village north of Kharkiv, which has limited importance for the protection of the Russian Federation from offensive Ukrainian actions.
In addition, Ukrainian military intelligence has published an intercepted conversation in which a Russian soldier complains that his commander does not care about losses, because he only wants to reach Kharkiv.
ISW also noted that Russian gauleiters from the temporarily occupied territories of Kharkiv region began to cooperate with the leaders of the LPR terrorist organization. According to analysts, this indicates Russia's attempts to create conditions for a long-term occupation.
ISW analysts consider it extremely unlikely that the Russians will succeed in capturing Kharkiv and the entire region. According to analysts, in the coming days, the Russian army will probably step up its attacks north of Kharkiv inconsistently, but it is unlikely that it will be able to achieve serious territorial gains.
It will be recalled that earlier Putin stated that only three territories "historically" belong to Ukraine.
In addition, on July 11, more than 30 people were injured in a missile attack on Kharkiv.
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