Moscow calls its invasion, which began on Feb. From their point of view officially, everything is rosy. "Another thing is we don't know what's going on with the Ukrainians their manpower, losses and so on. "Whatever they did, it is working for them," said Muzyka. Konrad Muzyka, a Poland-based military analyst, said the tactical change meant Moscow could commit fewer troops to offensives amid unconfirmed Western suggestions that Russia is experiencing manpower problems. Yes it's slow, but the strategy works and it means far less casualties," said the official, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak on the subject.
"Our military has changed tactics," said one Russian government official.
Sievierodonetsk would be the biggest Ukrainian city Russia has captured since it took the port of Mariupol last month. With a reported 90% of the industrial city's buildings damaged, most of its around 100,000 residents long gone, and with limited strategic value beyond a sprawling chemicals plant, it does not look like much of a prize.īut its capture, if and when officially confirmed, is likely to be hailed by Russia as evidence that its switch from its early and unsuccessful attempts at "lightning warfare" to a much slower grinding offensive which relies more on long-range shelling rather than close-quarters combat, is paying off.
"Remaining in positions smashed to pieces over many months just for the sake of staying there does not make sense," Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the wider region, said on Ukrainian television on Friday. KYIV - It took Russia weeks of fierce fighting, an untold number of casualties, and relentless shelling before the exhausted Ukrainian defenders of Sievierodonetsk received orders to quit its smouldering wreckage.