Ukrainian forces have advanced near Bakhmut and continued positional fighting with Russian troops over the past week.

Source: the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) 

Details: Geolocation footage released on 20 December showed that Ukrainian forces had made minor advances southeast of Klishchiivka (southwest of Bakhmut).

Russian forces advanced near Marinka and continued positional fighting with Ukrainian forces on 28 December. 

Russian forces also made minor advances northwest of Avdiivka and continued positional fighting with Ukrainian forces on 28 December. Geolocation footage shows that Russian forces made minor advances near the Avdiivka Coke Plant northwest of Avdiivka.

In addition, Russian troops confirmed an offensive in the eastern part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and reportedly advanced in its western part. Geolocation footage confirms that Russian forces have captured Dorozhnianka, south of Huliaipole.

Ukrainian forces held positions on the left bank of Kherson Oblast as of 28 December, but neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces made any confirmed gains in the area. 

To quote the ISW’s Key Takeaways on 28 December:  

• The New York Times (NYT) published an op-ed by a member of its editorial board calling for Ukraine to engage in negotiations with and cede territory to Russia after reports emerged that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using backchannels and intermediaries to signal his interest in a ceasefire. The op-ed largely ignores near-constant Kremlin public signaling of Russia’s continued maximalist goals in Ukraine.
• Russia has officially deployed a battalion formed of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) to the frontline in Ukraine, further confirming a myriad of apparent Russian violations of the Geneva Convention on POWs.
• Recent incidents of apparent Russian violations of the Geneva Convention on POWs likely implicate elements of the now notorious 76th Guards Air Assault (VDV) Division in the abuse of POWs.
• The Russian military command will reportedly disband the Kaskad operational combat tactical formation of the Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DNR) Internal Affairs Ministry (MVD) by 31 December 2023, likely as part of Russia's ongoing force formalization campaign.
• Ukrainian military officials revealed that Russian forces launched about 7,400 missiles and 3,900 Shahed drone strikes against Ukraine since launching the full-scale invasion.
• Russian mines continue to threaten civilian vessels in the Black Sea but will likely not deter civilian vessel usage of the Black Sea Humanitarian Corridor.
• The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced a US$250 million security assistance package for Ukraine on 27 December.
• Imprisoned Russian ultranationalist and former Russian officer Igor Girkin acknowledged the end of his presidential campaign after failing to register with the Russian Central Elections Committee (CEC) on 27 December.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) rewarded prominent Russian milbloggers for their contribution to the "military-patriotic" and "military-political" sphere, mirroring previous Kremlin efforts to pander to and co-opt to the wider Russian milblogger community.
• Ukrainian forces made a confirmed advance near Bakhmut, likely within the past week.
• Russian forces made confirmed advances northwest of Avdiivka, near Marinka, and south of Huliaipole.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 28 December that Russia has over 640,000 contract servicemen (kontraktniki), the first Russian announcement about the number of kontraktniki in the Russian Armed Forces since the start of the full-scale invasion.
• Russian occupation officials continue to deport Ukrainian children to Russia under the guise of medical necessity, despite an apparently growing number of cases of highly infectious diseases being transmitted among Ukrainian children en route to Russia.

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