Ukraine tries to break stalemate with Russia

 The Hill:

Ukrainian troops fighting through a stalemate notched a victory this week by securing a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, pushing Russian troops back on another front as Moscow struggles to make ground in its own offensive pushes across eastern Ukraine.

Though Ukraine’s counteroffensive launched in June sparked hopes in the West of a breakthrough, the war has since fallen into a brutal battle of attrition, with neither side making any real headway. As winter closes in, it’s unlikely the next few months will yield any surprising maneuvers across the 600-mile front of eastern Ukraine.

But Ukraine has opened a new front in the southern Kherson region by successfully landing troops across the Dnipro River and holding the ground, which could pressure Russian forces and divert their attention from battlegrounds in the southeastern Zaporizhizhia region.

“Against all odds, Ukraine’s defense forces have gained a foothold on the left bank of the Dnipro. Step by step, they are demilitarizing Crimea,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, at an event this week. “We know how to achieve victory.”

David Silbey, a professor of military history and policy at Cornell University, said the latest developments show Ukraine maintains a tactical advantage, even if Kyiv faces a challenging task of a long war against a larger Russian army.

“Ukraine has a tiny bit of an upper hand, but it’s not much better than the stalemate itself,” Silbey said. “What we saw over the last couple of months reminds me nothing so much as the grinding, slugging matches of World War I, where progress is measured in yards rather than miles. Casualties are pretty horrendous.”

But Ukraine’s Kherson foothold, a region that connects to a valuable stronghold in Russian-occupied Crimea, is promising, Silbey added.

“It’s certainly going to lead them to potentially threaten Russia’s control of the Crimea and make them concerned about whether they can keep their forces in Crimea,” he said. “The big issue is really keeping the logistics chain flowing. Because you have to carry everything over the river to support the troops there.”
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The Russia-Ukraine war has become a bloody slog so both sides are looking for some kind of breakthrough and it looks like Ukraine may be able to do so. Ukraine has destroyed much of Russia's mechanized forces and neither side appears capable of the kind of combined arms operations that is used for rapid advance.

See also:

Ukrainian drone destroys Russia’s $3 million Solntspek flamethrower system in Kherson Oblast – video

The ability of drones to destroy mechanized operations without endangering a pilot has been one factor in slowing assaults.  Drones are changing the face of battle on land, sea, and air.