The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ brigades, trained on NATO soil, stopped using American warfare tactics during the offensive against the Russian invasion troops, having revisited tactics they know best.
That’s according to The New York Times, Ukrinform reports.
The publication notes that the Ukrainian military command has changed tactics, focusing on wearing down the Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles instead of storming minefields under fire. Troops are building up in the country’s south while a second wave of Western-trained forces is launching mostly small-scale attacks to penetrate Russian defense lines.
But the initial results of applying new tactics were ambiguous, the publication notes. Despite the fact that Ukrainian troops have recaptured several villages, they have not yet gained large-scale achievements that were in place in Kherson and Kharkiv regions last fall.
“The counteroffensive itself hasn’t failed; it will drag on for several months into the fall,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who recently visited the front lines.
U.S. officials worry that Ukraine’s return to its previous tactics could lead to a waste of precious ammunition supplies, which could play into Putin’s hands and put Ukraine at a disadvantage in the ongoing war of attrition.
Some analysts doubt whether this second wave, based on attacks by smaller units, will generate enough combat power and momentum to allow Ukrainian forces to punch through Russian defense lines.
Other experts believe that Ukraine may well return to large-scale attacks, but now it is important to break through Russia’s defenses because an offensive effort always comes at a higher cost than defense.
Ukraine may well return to the American way of warfare if it breaks through dug-in Russian defenses, some military experts said.
A Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Russians are stretched and still experiencing problems with logistics, supply, personnel, and weapons.
“The Ukrainians are in a place now where they understand how they want to employ their forces,” said Philip M. Breedlove, a retired four-star Air Force general who was NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe. “And we’re starting to see the Russians move backwards.”
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the offensive operation of Ukraine’s Defense Forces in the Melitopol and Berdiansk areas is currently underway. The armed forces are getting entrenched as they gain more ground, engaging in counter-battery fire.
Source: Ukraine’s Army no longer using U.S. tactic for counteroffensive - media
