Russian forces have made "marginal advances" amid ongoing fighting in several positions in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest report on March 23.
In Donetsk Oblast, the ISW claims that geolocated footage published on March 11 and geolocated on March 23 shows Russia's marginal advance north of Novomykhailivka, southwest of the city of Donetsk. The analysts noted that the advances were likely not recent.
Russia has also recently advanced west of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, near the village of Tonenke, where geolocated footage confirms Russian forces recently made limited gains.
Avdiivka, a city in Donetsk Oblast that has been on the front line of the war since 2014, fell on Feb. 17, in what was Russia’s first major military gain in nine months.
Several villages west of Avdiivka were captured soon after as Ukraine faced a severe ammunition shortage while U.S. aid continued to be stalled in Congress. On March 15, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russian forces are concentrating their main efforts on making a breakthrough near the recently fallen city.
The ISW also reported that Russian forces marginally advanced in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast, capturing limited positions alongside the village of Verbove, east of Robotyne, with Russian units storming Ukrainian positions at dawn.
Russian forces have also reportedly increased their use of chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS) gas, a chemical agent prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Russia is a signatory.
Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi said on March 21 that Ukrainian forces managed to "stabilize the situation" in the country's east.
Russian forces have not yet demonstrated an ability to secure significant gains across large swaths of territory, the Institute for the Study of War assessed last month.
Read also: Syrskyi: Ukraine’s forces ‘stabilize situation’ in the east