Ukrainian troops likely seek to create conditions for future operations and the resettlement of the west (right) bank of Kherson region, the US-based think tank said on Saturday night.
Ukraine has established several bridgeheads on the east bank, according to military officials in Kyiv.
In addition, Ukrainian drone strikes have heavily suppressed Russian long-range artillery on the east bank in recent months, according to a regiment commander cited by The New York Times.
Reducing Russian artillery barrages from the east bank would remove consistent threats to populated areas on the west bank and allow the many Ukrainians who fled the Russian occupation of the area to return more safely, the ISW assessed.
It would also allow Ukrainian forces to launch operations across the Dnipro river, the US think tank added.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian troops on Saturday clashed 71 times in combat engagements, the General Staff in Kyiv said.
Russia on Saturday conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, near Avdiivka, west and southwest of Donetsk City, in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast, making advances in some areas, according to the ISW.
At the same time, Russia's personnel losses have now reached some 344,820 troops, Ukraine's state news agency Ukrinform reported.
Russia has now also lost 5,720 tanks, 8,100 artillery systems and 6,238 unmanned aerial vehicles, according to officials in Kyiv.
Sunday is day 662 of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
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Source: ISW, The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrinform, The New Voice of Ukraine, The New York Times