Let's kill as many Russians as possible! Ukrainian army seeks improved war plan

In southeastern Ukraine, Russian forces are bombing rear areas with drones, aiming to weaken Ukrainian defenders by cutting off their supply lines. Snow-covered roads are littered with burned-out pickup trucks, Ukraine's new war plans begin, The Wall Street Journal reports, Focus reports.

As the fourth anniversary of the conflict approaches, Russia's increasingly effective use of drones is helping its forces maintain a slow but steady advance. This weakens Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table, where it is under pressure to cede strategically important territory.

The WSJ emphasizes that, in contrast, Ukraine’s approach, as before, is largely aimed at inflicting maximum casualties on Russian infantry as they enter the defeat zone, which begins about 20 kilometers from the front line.

At the same time, as the journalists note, many Ukrainian soldiers and officers speak of the need for change and that Ukraine must respond to Russia’s strategy of systematic strikes in the rear.

Ukrainian forces could better resist the constant Russian pressure if they focused more on strikes on Russian drone operators and company and battalion command posts located many kilometers from the line of contact, said Major Oleg Shiryaev, commander of the 225th Assault Regiment, which is fighting in Zaporizhia region.

"At the tactical level, everything lies on their shoulders", he notes.

"Russia has applied a more systematic approach to the search for Ukrainian drone groups in order to disrupt and destroy Ukrainian drone logistics, as this is the center of gravity of the Ukrainian defense system", commented Franz-Stefan Gaddy, an Austrian military analyst.

He adds that Ukraine has the best drone pilots, but their strikes on targets in the rear are fragmented.

Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of drones and other weapons capable of hitting targets at an average distance of 30 to 190 km behind the front line, Gaddy points out. To improve the arsenal, additional assistance from Western partners is needed.

The publication notes that in the Zaporozhye region it is easy to understand why the Russian army cannot achieve a decisive breakthrough, despite the increase in the number of manpower and ammunition.

"There, the plains stretch for many kilometers, and the sky rumbles with deadly Ukrainian drones when Russian infantry tries to cross the fields. And Russian armored vehicles cannot cross the long trenches, surrounded by barbed wire and "dragon's teeth", the publication writes.

The troops commanded by Shiryaev act as "firefighters", rushing to the rescue when Russian soldiers discover gaps in the Ukrainian defense. They are doing everything they can to make the strategy work, the commander points out.

Ukraine has a large number of troops holding the front line in the Donetsk region, which leads to a shortage of troops to cover the southern front.

“The Russians are choosing the road and trying to destroy everything on it or near it. Their goal is to break the morale of Ukrainian soldiers by making every move to and from the front line terrible,“ the deputy commander of the Zaporozhye brigade said.