Recent relatively high Russian aviation losses appear to be prompting a significant decrease in Russian aviation activity in eastern Ukraine, although it is unclear how long this decrease in activity will last, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Monday.

“Russian forces appeared to tolerate an increased rate of aviation losses in recent weeks in order to conduct glide bomb strikes in support of ongoing Russian offensive operations in eastern Ukraine, and the Russian command may decide in the future to assume the risk of continued aviation losses in pursuit of further tactical gains,” the analysts note.

At the same time, it is reported that on March 3, positional battles continued throughout the entire theater of military operations, and the Russian occupation forces operating around the recently captured Avdiyivka, Donetsk region, are adapting to conducting offensive ground operations involving both trained and untrained personnel

“Russian forces operating around Avdiyivka appear to be adapting to conducting offensive ground operations with trained and untrained personnel … Russian forces are likely attempting to adapt ground attacks to sustain a higher tempo of offensive operations near Avdiyivka with personnel of varying levels of training and to prevent rapid attrition of better-trained units and formations,” the report reads.