Ukraine shifts strategies to ‘maximum destruction’ of Russian troops, equipment: Kyiv

Ukraine has switched strategies of its counter-offensive from focusing on advancing forward in battlefronts to the “maximum destruction” of the Russian army’s troops and equipment, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said on Tuesday.

“At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s Defense Forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defense forces of the Russian army,” he said on Twitter.

Danilov added: “The last few days have been particularly fruitful. Now the war of destruction is equal to the war of kilometers. More destroyed means more liberated. The more effective the former, the more the latter. We are acting calmly, wisely, step by step.”

Meanwhile, the Ukraine armed forces reported making advances in the southern Tavria direction while Russians lost some of their positions. Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukrainian troops in the southern Tavria sector said on Telegram: “The defense forces are moving forward… The enemy has been knocked out of a number of positions.”

He added that over the past 24 hours Russian losses in killed and wounded amounted to almost three companies, while 36 units of their military equipment was destroyed including: tanks, drones, anti-aircraft missile systems, and artillery, in addition to the destruction of two ammunition depots and one control post, according to state news agency Ukrinform.

In the eastern direction of Bakhmut, Ukrainian border guards eliminated a Russian infantry group. “UAV operators tracked the movement of enemy manpower and discovered exactly which firing positions were used by the invaders. Mortar shells were fired at the locations of enemy forces. Firing damage inflicted by the border guards caused losses to the personnel and weapons of the Russian occupying forces.”

Additionally, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed three Russian Grad MLRS in the Bakhmut area. The Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said: “During reconnaissance, operators of one of the Special Operations Forces’ units discovered the location of three BM-21 Grad units behind enemy lines. Coordinates were quickly transmitted to comrades from the Defense Forces. And all equipment and personnel were eliminated by Ukrainian artillery hits.”

Overall, in the eastern direction of Bakhmut, military spokesperson Andriy Kovalev said: “To the north and south of the city of Bakhmut, the [Ukrainian] defense forces continue to put pressure on the enemy, driving them out of the previously captured positions… They have partial success; they are entrenched in the reached lines.”

He added that heavy fighting continued but that Ukrainian forces were inflicting “huge losses” on the Russian side.