On June 3, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu promised to speed up the offensive in Ukraine, but analysts at the Washington Institute for the Study of War are convinced that the Russian military is unlikely to be able to do so.
According to their estimates, the Russians fail to break through the Ukrainian defenses in the Izium direction, and the fighting in Sievierodonetsk continues with varying degrees of success.
The day before, the occupiers had unsuccessfully stormed the area south of Izium and west of the Lyman, but were unlikely to make significant progress toward Slovyansk.
The occupiers made little progress in the eastern part of Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces continue localized counterattacks in and around the city.
In other parts of the frontline, the Russians failed to advance, including in Kherson Oblast.
At the beginning of June, the number of troops in individual battalions of the army was reduced to 12-15, and less than a hundred able-bodied servicemen remained in the 38th and 64th motorized infantry brigades. At the same time, private military companies refuse to storm Ukrainian positions because "they are not paid that much money".
The Russian occupation authorities have started issuing Russian passports in Kherson and Melitopol, although they are facing public resistance and guerrilla pro-Ukrainian actions.