The Ukrainian military is changing its tactics after the use of Western methods did not bring the expected success in the counteroffensive against Russian troops, The New York Times reported.

With Western weapons and modern warfare tactics, the Ukrainian military encountered difficulties during storming Russian positions. In particular, mined fields and constant artillery and helicopter attacks.

“The elaborate preparation of the Western manoeuvres gave the Ukrainians no solace in the face of Russian artillery fire,” the NYT posted.

Ukrainian commanders are changing their tactics, U.S. officials and analysts say. They are focusing on depleting Russian troops with artillery and long-range missiles.

“The counteroffensive itself hasn’t failed; it’s going to drag on for several months into the fall,” said Michael Coffman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Perhaps the problem was the assumption that after a few months of training, Ukrainian units could be turned into combat more than American troops, leading the offensive against a well-trained Russian defense rather than helping Ukrainians fight more in the best way they know how.”

In late July 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that the counteroffensive was progressing more slowly than expected.

“We had plans to start this in the spring, but we did not do it because, frankly, we did not have enough ammunition and weapons and we did not have enough properly trained brigades – that is, properly trained in these weapons,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a US security forum.

The NYT reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin is signalling his strategy to wear down Ukraine and its allies. U.S. officials worry that Ukraine’s return to its old tactics could waste large ammunition stockpiles.

See also

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The consequences of Shahed night attack are being eliminated in Kharkiv. The rubble of the dormitory building is being dismantled, and a hole in the ground is being buried after the drone hit the roadway in Kharkiv. Utility workers and the State Emergency Service employees are working to eliminate the consequences of the Russian drone attack on August 1.