Key Takeaways:
- Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted drone strikes
targeting Rostov Oblast overnight on March 8-9 and may have struck a
Russian aircraft plant refurbishing and modernizing Russian A-50 long
range radar detection aircraft. - Russian sources widely circulated footage of a Russian
strike on March 9 to claim that Russian forces destroyed a Patriot air
defense system in eastern Ukraine, although there has yet to be any
confirmation of these claims. - US officials reportedly told CNN that Russia
considered using “tactical or battlefield” nuclear weapons in Ukraine
in 2022 – during the same time Russia conducted an intense information
operation aimed at the West about Russia potentially using a nuclear
weapon against Ukraine to deter Western support for Ukraine. - Senior Armenian officials stated that Armenia is considering
seeking membership in the European Union (EU), against the backdrop of
deteriorating Russian-Armenian relations. - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine
would be open to negotiations with Russia only after Ukraine and its
partners develop a peace plan and as Turkey continues to promote its own
negotiation platform for the war in Ukraine. - Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near
Kreminna and Avdiivka amid continued positional fighting along the
entire frontline on March 9. - Open-source researchers analyzed satellite imagery and
assessed that Russia has reportedly removed 25 to 40 percent of its tank
strategic reserves, depending on the model, from open-air storage
facilities, although ISW cannot independently verify this report.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-9-2024