UKRAINE, KHARKIV REGION, Jan. 27 — The Institute for the Study of War updated its analysis of Russian operations into Nesterne, a village northeast of Kharkiv. Previously, the Institute considered the movement of Russian troops in the area to be infiltration missions, but, based on reports from the Ukrainian military, it changed its assessment of their activity to “the level of Russian advances” in the Jan. 26 report. 

Map from Russian offensive campaign assestment from the ISW
ISW’s map indicating Russian advance in Nesterne, Kharkiv oblast. Jan. 26 report / Source: ISW

The ISW considers Russia’s goals in the northern part of Kharkiv oblast are to create a buffer zone in the borderlands and to get within a tube artillery range of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. 

ISW also notes that Russian forces didn’t make any “significant gains” in the northern Kharkiv region and Velykyi Burluk direction within three months, although Russian military command deployed three army corps (ACs) and a combined arms army (CAA) in the area. 

Russia advances on Kharkiv oblast from the north, east, and southeast, trying to move further into the region, occupy logistics hubs, and disrupt supply routes. 

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