ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 6, 2025
Ukrainian forces continued limited attacks across the international border near Tetkino and Novyi Put, Kursk Oblast.
Ukrainian forces also continued drone, air, and artillery strikes aimed at isolating Russian units in and near Tetkino.
Kremlin officials are continuing to leverage the mythos of the Soviet Union’s role in the Second World War to form the basis of a new state ideology that will span generations and that Russia intends to leverage to justify a future military conflict against the West.
The Kremlin appears to be consolidating around an informal state ideology predicated on perpetuating the belief that the West is determined to encircle and defeat Russia.
Russian officials also appear to be leveraging the story of the Second World War (referred to as the Great Patriotic War in Russia) to dismiss Russia’s early failures in the war in Ukraine and present the false image that Russian victory in Ukraine is as inevitable as the Soviet triumph over Germany became at the end of World War II.
Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his desire to resign from his post but acknowledged that only Russian President Vladimir Putin can approve this request. Kadyrov has helped stabilize interethnic tensions in the North Caucasus, and leaving his post without a suitable successor could threaten the stability of Putin’s regime.
It remains unclear who might succeed Kadyrov in the event of his resignation or death.
Ukraine and Russia conducted a 205-for-205 prisoner of war (POW) exchange on May 6.
Russian forces advanced near Kupyansk, Toretsk, Novopavlivka, and Velyka Novosilka.
Source: ISW