Ukraine changes its counteroffensive tactics after severe equipment losses – NYT

NYT experts claim Ukrainian forces have now changed their counteroffensive tactics, which has allowed them to reduce losses in military equipment.

However, this has slowed down the de-occupation of the country's territories.

As noted in the article, in the first two weeks of the counteroffensive against the Russian army, up to 20% of the military equipment supplied to the front, including Western models, was damaged or destroyed.

Russian forces mostly targeted Western combat vehicles, such as tanks and armored personnel carriers, which the Ukrainians were counting on to repel the Russians.

The NYT experts believe this level of equipment losses dropped to 10% in the following weeks due to Ukraine's change in tactics in the counter-offensive.

In particular, the forces focused more on wearing down Russian troops with artillery and long-range missiles than on attacking Russian-mined fields by tearing down their logistics.

"But this good news hides some grim realities. Casualties have also slowed as the counteroffensive itself has slowed,  and even stopped in some places, as Ukrainian soldiers struggle against Russia's formidable defenses.

Despite the losses, the Ukrainians have so far covered only five of the 60 miles (8 kilometers out of 96 – ed.) they hope to cover to reach the sea in the south and split the Russian troops into two, the experts noted.

The first 25 kilometers of the counteroffensive would be the most difficult, as NYT previously claimed, as tactics rule says that offensive troops need three times more forces than those on the defensive line.