“Putin’s goal remains the destruction of Ukrainian statehood, the Russian Federation captured villages near Kupyansk, Kurakhiv, Vugledar — ISW November 1, 08:10 Share: Soldiers of the 24th King Danilo OMBr self-propelled artillery division near Chasovoy Yar, October 2024 (Photo: 24th King Danylo OMBr Danyla / Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine via Facebook) Russian dictator Vladimir Putin continues to demonstrate that he is not interested in a ceasefire through”, — write on: ua.news
Soldiers of the self-propelled artillery division of the 24th OMBr named after King Danylo near Chasovoy Yar, October 2024 (Photo: 24th OMBr named after King Danylo / Ground troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces via Facebook)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin continues to demonstrate that he is not interested in a negotiated ceasefire, but is instead committed to achieving his goal in the war, which is the destruction of Ukrainian statehood.
This conclusion is voiced in their report by the analysts of the Institute for the Study of War, commenting on the statement of Serbian President Oleksandr Vucic about an attempt to discuss the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine with Putin.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Vucic said that in early October 2024, he spoke with Putin for the first time in two and a half years. The Serbian president raised the issue of a ceasefire in Ukraine, but Putin responded that Russia would fulfill all the goals of its “special military operation” [війни проти України].
ISW emphasizes that it continues to assess these goals as tantamount to the destruction of the Ukrainian state and the authorities of Ukraine. Analysts recall that back in the summer of 2024, during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on July 5, Putin flatly rejected any ceasefire agreements, claiming that it would supposedly allow Ukraine to regroup and rearm.
Instead, ISW is convinced that the opposite situation is true: a hypothetical ceasefire on the current front lines and under the current circumstances will only benefit Russia and give the Kremlin time for further radicalization and militarization of Russian society against Ukraine, analysts are sure. And it would give the Russian army time to rest and recover — probably before the next attack on Ukraine.
ISW specialists also report on new Russian advances near Kupyansk, Svatovo, Pokrovsko, Kurakhovo and Vugledar.
In particular, Russian troops have recently advanced to the southeast of Kupyansk and to the west of Svatovo against the background of continued offensive operations along the conditional line Kupyansk-Svatovo-Kreminna. Geolocated footage published on October 31 shows that the occupiers advanced west of Stelmakhivka (village to the west of Svatovoy). Other footage released on October 31 shows a recent advance into the northern part of the village Kruglyakivka (southeast of Kupyansk, Kharkiv region) — this means that the Russians probably captured this village.
In the Kurakhiv direction, the Russians advanced to the southwestern administrative borders of the village Kurahivka (to the northeast of Kurkakhovy) and probably captured this settlement. At the same time, the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recently restored their positions in the wooded area southwest of Pobyeda (southeast of Kurakhovo).
Russian troops probably also captured New Ukraine (village northwest of Vugledar) during the continuation of offensive operations in the Vugledar direction. Geo-verified footage released on October 31 suggests that units of the Russian 40th Marine Brigade recently advanced into the central part of Novoukrainka and likely captured the village.
Russian sources, including the Ministry of Defense Russian Federation also claim that the occupiers captured Yasna Polyana northwest of Vugledar. However, ISW has no evidence for this claim.
