Ukraine’s forces pivot to defense after Russia holds off counteroffensive, analysts say
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s armed forces are taking up a more defensive posture, a military analysis said Wednesday, after their summer counteroffensive failed to achieve a major breakthrough against Russia’s army and as winter weather sets in after almost 22 months of the war.
“In recent weeks, Ukraine has mobilized a concerted effort to improve field fortifications as its forces pivot to a more defensive posture along much of the front line,” the U.K. Defense Ministry said in an assessment.
The Kremlin’s deep defenses held firm against Ukraine’s months-long assault, which employed Western-supplied weapons but did not have essential air cover along the front line that extends for about 600 miles.
Most fighting in recent weeks has focused on artillery, missile and drone strikes as mud and snow hinder troop movements.
“Russia continues local offensive options in several sectors, but individual attacks are rarely above platoon size,” the U.K. analysis said. “A major Russian breakthrough is unlikely and overall, the front is characterized by stasis.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin is hopeful that Kyiv’s Western allies will grow weary of financing the costly Ukrainian war effort, allowing the Kremlin’s forces to make a new offensive push next year against a weaker foe. He has put the Russian economy on a war footing to prepare for that. Putin sent troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after invading and annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine years earlier, a move most countries don’t recognize.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s KGB years in East Germany offer a window into his crackdown on protests, war on Ukraine and yearning for empire.
Vladimir Putin aims to prolong his repressive grip on Russia for at least six more years through a presidential election he is all but certain to win.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he’s certain the United States will make good on its promise to provide billions of dollars in further aid for Kyiv to continue its fight. The U.S. Congress has broken for vacation without a deal to send an estimated $61 billion to Ukraine.
Zelensky also noted that next year Ukraine plans to produce 1 million drones, which have become a key battlefield weapon. The relatively cheap drones can be used to destroy expensive military hardware.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries, said the million new drones will be so-called first-person view, or FPV, ones, which have a real-time video function.
The European Union fails to agree on a $54-billion package Ukraine needs to stay afloat, even as the bloc decides to open membership negotiations.
In addition, he said in a post on the messaging app Telegram, next year Ukraine can manufacture more than 10,000 mid-range strike drones that can travel hundreds of miles as well as more than 1,000 drones with a range of more than 600 miles. They will allow Ukraine to hit targets well behind the front line and in Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 18 of 19 Russian Shahed-type drones overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday.
Moscow also fired two S-300 ballistic missiles at Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, the air force said. No casualties were reported.
In Russia, air defenses shot down a drone in the western region of Belgorod, the Russian Defense Ministry said. It also reported no casualties.
The Siberian Battalion is an unusual unit of the Ukrainian military made up of Russian nationals who have joined to fight against their own homeland.
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