ISW: Russian forces are likely attempting to regain initiative in Ukraine through multiple simultaneous offensives.

Several Ukrainian officials have underscored the complexity of the front-line situation, affirming that Ukrainian forces maintain control of the battlespace. The Institute for The Study of War (ISW) cited Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi who emphasized the heightened intensity in the Avdiivka, Kupiansk, and Marinka directions during a conversation with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown on Nov.

13. Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi highlighted Russian forces' simultaneous offensive actions in various directions, particularly aiming to reclaim the initiative north and south of Bakhmut. Ukrainian officials' statements about the current tempo of Russian operations along the frontline are consistent with ISW's assessment about ongoing Russian offensive operations, particularly in the Kupiansk, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka directions.

While Russian forces may face challenges in fully regaining the initiative across the theater, Ukrainian forces continue their own offensives, securing tactical gains in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast and on the east bank of Kherson Oblast. The Russian military command now confronts decisions on whether to allocate forces for defense against Ukrainian offensives or redeploy them to support operations elsewhere, potentially limiting their ability to fully regain the initiative in the coming weeks.

Ukraine war latest: Russia lost 4,000 soldiers on eastern front in 2 weeks, commander says Key developments on Nov.

14: * Commander: Russia lost over 4,000 soldiers on eastern front over past 2 weeks * Prosecutor's office identifies Russian soldiers who killed civilians, including well-known children's writer * Germany's Rheinmetall to provide Ukraine with 25 Leopard 1 tanks * EU pro...

Development Manager, Canadian Correspondent

Olena Goncharova is a development manager and Canadian correspondent for the Kyiv Independent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper's Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta.

Olena has a master's degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv.

Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months.

The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.