(Dan Tri) – Western experts say that Russia’s recent battle in Donetsk shows that Moscow may be repeating the mistakes it made last year and in the early stages of the war with Ukraine.
Russian armored vehicle destroyed (Photo: 25th Air Assault Brigade).
According to Newsweek, Ukraine recently announced that it had stopped large-scale attacks by Russian tanks and armor in the area around Avdiivka, Donbass front.
Observers say that this development shows that Russia seems to be repeating mistakes in the early stages of the war that has lasted more than 2 years, although Moscow has recently occupied more territory.
Earlier this week, Ukraine posted images of what it described as the largest attack by Russian tanks in 25 months since the conflict broke out.
In total, Ukraine said, Russia used 36 tanks and 12 armored vehicles from the Russian army’s 6th Tank Regiment in the attack.
The 25th Air Assault Brigade said Russia lost 16 tanks and armored vehicles, equivalent to 1/3 of the vehicles.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) described the Russian raid around Tonenke as Moscow’s `first battalion-sized mechanized attack` since Russia began its offensive.
According to Newsweek, Russia’s loss of so many tanks and armored vehicles in a major battle seems to indicate that they are repeating the mistakes they made in the early stages of the war.
Expert Bryden Spurling from the US RAND organization said: `There are some similarities between the Russian attack near Tonenke and Russian attacks early in the war.`
`What is surprising is that the Russian tank and armored formations in Tonenke mainly used a single road and did not appear to use the open ground on either side and spread out their forces, although it appeared that some
According to this expert, Russian soldiers seem to be concerned about Ukraine’s muddy terrain or minefields.
According to Forbes, Ukraine seems to have implemented standard defense tactics by determining location with UAVs and then trying to break up the attack group with artillery.
Artillery can cause dispersion and disorder in the Russian armored formation, after which Ukraine can use minefields and UAVs to continue attacking, blocking the enemy’s advance.
`Near Tonenke, we witnessed Russian mistakes almost similar to last year’s Vuhledar battle,` Major Victor Tregubov of the Ukrainian army told Newsweek.
In 2023, the New York Times reported that during the battles in Vuhledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed at least 130 Russian tanks and armored vehicles.
At that time, expert Simon Miles from Duke University (USA), said that Russia’s tank tactics in Vuhledar were similar to what Moscow did and failed in Bucha in 2022.
Mr. Miles explained that Russia’s sending large numbers of tanks into territory controlled by its opponents, where Ukraine was waiting to ambush, did not seem to be the right tactic.
In the Vuhledar battle last year, the Ukrainian side used a remote ambush tactic to damage the opponent’s equipment, set up minefields, causing Russia to not be able to successfully control the area and damage a large number of tanks.