As the Russia-Ukraine war reaches its 17th month, attacks and counterattacks between Russia and Ukraine are escalating and becoming more deadly. Russian artillery is no longer clearly in the lead, and Ukrainian forces are battling strong Russian defences while continuing their southern push, being bogged down by extensive minefields, reported The New York Times (NYT).
Small territorial gains come at an outside size. Volunteers reported that field hospitals that were shut down following the war for the eastern city of Bakhmut have been reopened, and Ukrainian soldiers described a persistent adversary, as per NYT.
"We're trading our people for their people, and they have more people and equipment," a Ukrainian commander whose platoon has sustained significant losses ever since Russia began its full-scale invasion last year claimed.
The Ukrainian military is now facing a litany of new and enduring challenges that have contributed to its slow progress.
By connecting Starlink satellite internet, open-source software, and commercial drones to command centres, Ukraine has successfully adapted to a defensive war. However, offensive operations differ from these: Between its troops closest to Russian forces on the so-called zero line and those advancing, Ukraine has only slightly improved its ability to cooperate, according to The New York Times.
With tens of thousands of deaths since the war's beginning, Ukrainian infantry are concentrating more and more on trench assaults, but these ranks are frequently staffed with older and less-trained soldiers.
Additionally, Russian forces have improved their artillery target accuracy when they are forced from a site, assuring Ukrainian soldiers cannot occupy it for an extended period of time.
There is a lack of ammunition and a variety of ammunition sent from other nations. Because the accuracy of the different shells varies greatly, this has prompted Ukrainian artillery units to spend more ammunition to hit their objectives, according to Ukrainian soldiers.
Additionally, some of the older shells and rockets brought from abroad are hurting the soldiers and ruining the equipment. Alex, the commander of a Ukrainian unit, said, "It's a very big problem now."
Finally, in the summer, the success of military action still depends heavily on the use of flora and camouflage. Whether due to unseen trenches or concealed electronic warfare units that use deception and concealment to confuse attacking forces, defending forces nearly always have the upper hand, as per NYT.
Ukrainian forces are also contending with Russian forces jamming the radios that soldiers are using to try to reach their comrades with the internet.
Anton, the head of an automatic grenade launcher unit, said, “Mostly we receive coordinates via the internet – it is secure, and as soon as they are transmitted to us, we use them immediately.”
In one instance in the country's south this year, Ukrainian soldiers attacking a Russian position attempted to connect Starlink internet to an armoured troop transport, but the antenna was blasted by friendly fire during the operation.
Ukrainian losses have increased recently in the area of Bakhmut as a result of Ukraine's strategy to surround the city with Russian forces in order to tie them up and support its southern counteroffensive.
More artillery units from Russian forces have been hurriedly sent to the area so that even if they lose a trench to a Ukrainian assault, they may swiftly bombard their destroyed fortifications with shells, forcing Ukrainian forces to flee recently reclaimed territory, according to NYT.
They are frequently referred to as "kamikaze" drones, and they have compelled Ukrainian tank and artillery operators to take great care to hide their positions.
To combat the self-exploding machines, some tank personnel have even soldered makeshift armour to their turrets.
The 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade personnel were observing a variety of radio frequencies from their computer displays and attempting to determine how to deal with the Lancets around 40 kilometres distant, on another section of the front line. Jamming them was impossible, at least for now, The New York Times reported.
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