Declining assault group sizes: Russian tactics shift in Donbas, reports Ukrainian National Guard Officer
An officer in the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU), Dmytro Kozhubenko, reports that while Russian forces continue their assault operations on the Donetsk front, their tactics have slightly changed. This shift is unrelated to any breaches by the Defense Forces on Russian territory.
Despite an ongoing operation in the Kursk region, the situation in Donbas remains essentially unchanged, with no noticeable withdrawal of Russia troops, Kozhubenko revealed during a broadcast on Espreso.TV .
According to him, Russian assault groups on the front lines have indeed diminished in size, but this reduction is unrelated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' (AFU) operations in the Kursk region. Specifically, this observation pertains to the Bakhmut direction in Donbas.
"In the defense area of the 'Rubezh' brigade, there is no significant withdrawal of enemy personnel. The Russians continue to carry out assault operations. However, the enemy has changed their assault tactics. The groups for assaults have become smaller, but this is not linked to our forces commencing active combat operations in the Kursk region," stated Dmytro Kozhubenko.
Furthermore, the officer noted that the Russian Armed Forces' strategic objective remains the same: to capture the settlement of Siversk. Achieving this would enable them to intensify their offensive operations towards Sloviansk and move towards other settlements in Donbas.
"We are currently preparing for combat and repelling all the enemy's strikes," Kozhubenko concluded.
On August 14, reports indicated that the situation in Chasiv Yar remained unchanged following a breakthrough in the Kursk region. According to Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Russia is not experiencing issues with infantry forces on the front and no significant changes in troop numbers have been observed.