Ukraine is being advised to change its offensive tactics again. Column by Serhiy Zgurets

Ukraine is again advised to change its offensive tactics

Ukraine is again being advised to change its offensive tactics, as the Ukrainian Armed Forces have concentrated their troops in the "wrong places". The Ukrainian command has distributed troops and firepower approximately equally between the East and South. 

It is also said that more troops are concentrated near Bakhmut than in the priority South. Accordingly, Ukraine is advised to concentrate on one direction - Melitopol. Increase the number of forces and means to break through Russian minefields and other defenses and thus ensure progress, even if Ukraine loses more soldiers and equipment in the process.

This was reported in the New York Times on August, 22, citing unnamed U.S. officials and experts. This week, there have been plenty of similar publications in the Western media. There are several comments to make on this. 

First, the tactics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are due to the fact that Ukraine has restrictions and delays in the supply of necessary weapons by the West. And as a result, the preparation of our brigades and, accordingly, the offensive itself was delayed. 

Secondly, while the Ukrainian army was preparing for the offensive, the enemy built a defense system that no US or NATO concept is currently suitable for breaking through. This is especially true of gaining air supremacy. And this argument is never mentioned in foreign publications about the slow offensive of the Ukrainian army. A fast and massive offensive without results, but with losses, carries more risks than Ukraine's current tactics.

As for the strange recommendation to concentrate forces and resources in one point, it is worth noting that a reasonable plan for any campaign is to keep the enemy constantly on edge and uncertain in many directions. This is necessary to prevent the enemy from concentrating its reserves in one direction. 

That is why the two current directions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the South - Tokmak-Melitopol and Berdiansk, as well as potential Vasylivka, Huliaypole, and Vuhledar - are now forcing the Russian invaders to choose a direction to strengthen. 

By the way, the Russians have nothing to strengthen the front. The situation for the enemy has not changed in the face of a two-month offensive. After all, the Russian army does not conduct rotational exercises on a regular basis. It is offensive actions along the entire front line that remain extremely important. The only thing that has happened recently is the redeployment of the 7th Airborne Division of the Russian Army from the Kherson region to defend Robotyne. This is the only reinforcement of the Russian invading forces that has been carried out in the South.

Map of hostilities in the area of Robotyne as of August 23

Several airborne divisions and separate brigades have been detected in the Bakhmut sector, and the enemy cannot redeploy them to other areas. 

It is also worth noting that foreign media publications do not refer to any expert or official from the Pentagon or the White House, but when it comes to statements by U.S. officials, they disagree that the war in Ukraine has allegedly reached a deadlock. In particular, Jake Sullivan said that Ukraine continues to liberate its own territories on a methodical and systematic basis. Therefore, we understand that the offensive is slower than we want it to be, but this is an objective reality based on the facts. 

By the way, yesterday the General Staff reported that our troops are continuing their offensive in the Bakhmut and Melitopol sectors. In particular, our defenders were successful in the area of Novoprokopivka. This settlement is located to the south of Robotyne. Currently, the village of Robotyne is being cleared. We will know about the complete liberation of the settlement after all stabilization measures are completed.

Ukrainian Armed Forces offensive in the Bakhmut sector

According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, our troops continue to conduct offensive operations south of the Bakhmut. Ukrainian military are consolidating their positions. I think it is the fighting in the areas of Klishchiivka and Kurdiumivka. This combat zone remains difficult, as the enemy is constantly moving its reserves there. Therefore, we understand that the situation in all areas is complicated, but the General Staff's approaches to combat operations remain quite clear and rational.

Destruction of the Russian S-400 in the occupied Crimea

On August 23, a Russian state-of-the-art S-400 air defense system was destroyed in the occupied Crimea. This was reported by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. In addition to the destruction of the complex itself, there were reports that radars were destroyed. 

Currently, there is no information on what exactly destroyed the S-400. However, it is worth emphasizing that the video of the S-400 destruction is of a fairly high quality. That is, Russian air defense in Crimea did not detect the drone that filmed the moment of the attack on the SAM. The Russian S-400 can provide a range of strikes on our aircraft at a distance of up to 200 kilometers. Destruction of the S-400 will significantly weaken Russian air defense in the temporarily occupied peninsula.

Over the past year, drone production in Ukraine has increased a hundredfold

Vladyslav Stadnyk, founder of the Steel Wings Charitable Foundation, said that the need for drones is constant in the Armed Forces. Only now has it been possible to draw attention to this problem. According to Stadnyk, a year ago not everyone realized the importance of drones for modern warfare. The good news is that the situation has changed now. 

The bad news is that our enemy has also realized this. Stadnyk also added that the situation with drone fees has worsened. And there are objective reasons for this. In particular, he believes that the financial situation of Ukrainians has deteriorated, and this reduces their desire to donate. However, there is a certain active category of the population that constantly donates to the purchase of drones.

A Ukrainian-made Leleka-100 drone (photo: 128th separate mountain assault brigade of Zakarpattia)

Vladyslav Stadnyk said that currently, the emphasis is on the production of Ukrainian drones. He noted that over the past year, UAV manufacturing has increased hundreds of times. There are now a large number of really high-quality products of our own production on the market that have passed combat tests. These drones prove their effectiveness on the battlefield every day.