In the last few days, the Russian forces seem to have activated five more fronts, such as in Pokrovsk, Kharkiv, Toretsk and the Kurakovo-Volendar front, that is, in addition to Chasiv Yar. It is possible that this will also be activated in Kupyansk.
The reasoning of the Russians is very simple:
At the moment the forces they have deployed in Ukraine are full at over 700,000 men and with very satisfactory levels of logistics and administration unlike the Ukrainians who cannot raise new military personnel and it has become very clear in recent times that they are not able to defend multiple cities at once.
In fact, when the Ukrainians choose to attack somewhere else, what they are doing is transferring forces from somewhere else.
By hitting them simultaneously in multiple points of the front line, they deprive them of this ability to transfer the same forces to specific places.
It is very likely that in the coming days there will be some collapse at some point of the overall Ukrainian front.
However, if this happens, the neighboring city will also be automatically exposed, and so on.
It is no exaggeration to say that the next two months are crucial for the fighting in Donbas.
If, as it seems, the F-16s are delayed any longer in being delivered to Ukraine, then the results will probably be very bad for the Ukrainians.
To understand what is happening, the Russians have been attacking all fronts for nine months, and this is the first time they have increased the intensity so much that in the last period they are conducting 144 attacks a day!
They apply the Bite & Hold “1000 bites” tactic at the same time!
You saturate a small area with gunfire then move in and occupy it. The enemy loses a lot of men in the barrage and you lose a lot of men moving in to take over. This is clearly a strategy of attrition, as it would take countless bites to make significant progress. In the end infantry etc have to close with the enemy, drive them off and occupy ground. Bite and Hold became the basic British tactic throughout the First and Second World Wars, cf El Alamein and battles in Normandy. Criticized by Americans and others as too methodical, but you pay your money.
In fact, as it has been seen, the attack on Kharkiv had the benefit of forcing the Ukrainians to use their limited forces to stop the Russian attack.
No one has seen the Russians increasing their forces in Lipzi and Volchansk, instead they seem to be seeking the influx of more Ukrainian reinforcements into these war “meat machines” they have created for the purpose of attrition.
