 The Ukrainian army is advancing through the Russian defenses in the south, this was reported by the US Institute for the Study of War American analysts say Ukrainian troops are advancing in the border areas west of Donetsk and east of Zaporizhzhia, as well as west of Zaporizhzhai.at the same time, according to Institute for the Study of War. Ukrainian forces must gradually clear the area of mines before advancing. The US Institute emphasized that such obstacles prevent rapid progress Ukrainian government to retake all of the territory that Russia has seized since 2014, including Crimea. To achieve this goal, through military action, the Ukrainian military must accomplish one of the most daunting of military tasks, it must break through dense, well-prepared defensive positions, find some running room, and then either move quickly toward an important geographic objective such as the Sea of Ozov, hoping to unravel the remains of the defending Russian army along the way, or quickly attempt to encircle a portion of Russia's sizable forces in hopes of annihilating them.