Russia shifts tactics in eastern Ukraine after failed assault, Ukraine says
Russia advances on Lyman but changes tactics (illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Russia continues offensive operations toward Lyman in the Donetsk region but has changed tactics after a failed assault, said Oleksandr Borodin, spokesperson for Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps.
He said that large-scale mechanized attacks by Russian forces are no longer being used. Instead, the enemy operates in small infantry groups, sometimes using ATVs and motorcycles for rapid maneuvers.
According to the spokesperson, enemy soldiers are attempting to infiltrate toward Lyman, but these infiltration groups are quickly detected and neutralized.
"The offensive actions we saw recently, and what we saw in 2022 – maneuverable, mechanized blitz offensives by the Russians – are costly for them, because restoring equipment is quite expensive," Borodin explained.
Therefore, as the military official noted, the "Russians chose a tactic aimed at undermining our personnel rotation capabilities through small-scale assaults."
"They do not count their losses, so from an economic standpoint, this approach is beneficial for them," the spokesperson for the 3rd Army Corps added.
Situation in the Lyman direction
Active fighting continues in the Lyman direction. Russian forces are attempting daily to break through the defense to reach Lyman, and then move toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
On March 21, the Third Army Corps reported that on March 19, Russian forces carried out a mechanized and motorized assault roughly the size of a battalion.
This was the largest breakthrough attempt since the beginning of fighting in this area, but units of the Third Corps completely stopped the enemy offensive within four hours.
In its morning report, the General Staff stated that in the Lyman direction, the enemy attacked six times, attempting to penetrate Ukrainian defenses.
The attacks were directed toward Drobysheve, Lyman, and the areas of the settlements of Serednie and Nadiia.
