This is stated in an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Russian attack pattern in this area is consistent with ISW's assessment that Russian forces are prioritizing the creation of a "buffer zone" in the area of the international border before the deeper penetration into Kharkiv region.
The spokesman of the Ukrainian General Staff and the Khortytsk Group of Forces, Lt. Col. Nazar Voloshin, noted that Ukrainian forces have begun to "clear" Volchansk, targeting the visible Russian assault groups in the settlement.
Several Russian and Ukrainian sources also reported that Russian forces are using a new tactic in this direction - using smaller assault groups of no more than five people to infiltrate Ukrainian positions before joining up with other small assault groups groups to unite into a larger strike group.
Feedback allegedly taken by drone from Volchansk shows Russian mobile infantry operating within the settlement in small, squad-sized assault groups, consistent with Ukrainian reports.
Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets noted that increasing Russian losses in this direction lead to a decrease in the overall pace of offensive operations.
The Chief of the Ukrainian General Staff, Major General Anatoly Barkhilevych, suggested that in the last 24 hours alone, Russian forces have lost up to 1,740 soldiers in this direction, which would be a very high loss rate.
ISW cannot confirm these assessments of the Ukrainian command.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's nominee for Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov outlined his and Putin's planned priorities for the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) during a speech to the Russian Federation Council on May 14.
On May 14, Putin appointed former Tula Oblast Governor Alexei Dyumin and former Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev as his presidential aides, further rebalancing his cabinet for his fifth term.
In recent months, at the behest of Putin, the Russian economy has been on military tracks.
On May 13, Russian authorities detained the Russian Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov, on charges of accepting large bribes.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the US is interested in a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine during his visit to Kyiv on May 14.
Ukrainian actors are believed to have struck a Russian railway in the Volgograd region on May 14.
Recently, Russian forces made minor advances near Liptsi, Vovchansk, Svatove, Chasov Yar, Avdeevka, Donetsk and Krinki.
The Russian MoD is forcing Russian citizens and migrants to serve in the Russian military through fake job opportunities, possibly as part of ongoing cryptomobilization efforts.
Ukrainian officials continue to make efforts to return forcibly deported Ukrainian children from Russia to Ukrainian-controlled territory.