Trump gave Putin the time he needed on the front line

– President Putin is not interested in peace and is only dragging out the talks – says German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

The American Institute for the Study of War is of a similar opinion.

Citing anonymous Russian sources, Bloomberg writes that the Russian leader believes that by the end of the year his army will manage to conquer all four Ukrainian regions he desires (Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk).

The main pressure of the Russian army is currently felt by the defenders of the Donetsk region. Since February, the number of Russian assaults has increased by a third each month, almost half of them falling on the Pokrovsk region.

Attacks are carried out by groups of two or three soldiers up to a hundred. When the first group dies, the next one immediately follows suit. - There are many "motorcycle attacks" (the attackers ride motorcycles, mopeds, open cars and even scooters, just to quickly cross the shelled area - ed.), which the Russians consider very effective. Dry weather favors them - describes one of the Ukrainian officers from the front.

Such attacks were popularized by the newly appointed commander of the Russian land forces, Gen. Andrei Mordvichev , when he was still commanding in the Donetsk region. They are being attacked by small groups, because with drones dominating the air, it is impossible to gather larger forces unnoticed.

Currently, in this region, the fighting is concentrated around several cities that the Russians are trying to capture: Pokrovsk for half a year, Toretsk for almost a year, Chasiv Yar for over a year. The Kremlin army is not giving up on trying to take them. "There is a common belief that in street fighting, it is quantity that counts, not quality. And it is the basis of the Russians' strength. But they are stuck in these cities," says Ukrainian expert Serhiy Grabsky.

That is why they are trying to somehow encircle and either lock the defenders in a cauldron or force them to retreat. "What we are seeing are the mechanisms developed by Mordvichev," concludes Yevhen Buderacki, deputy editor-in-chief of "Ukrainska Pravda." It was Mordvichev who first used such a maneuver in the attack on Avdiivka , from which the Ukrainians had to retreat a year ago. Previously, the Russians used frontal assaults (e.g. on Bakhmut), regardless of losses. Now, too, regardless of losses, they are attacking the flanks of the Ukrainian defense groups. "The losses do not stop them at all, even if they manage to gain only 100 meters in three days," says one of the Ukrainian soldiers.

- The Russians have also changed their tactics and are attacking our logistics directly behind the front line, just to deprive us of the first line of supply - says one of the Ukrainian experts. - First there is an air strike on logistics, then an assault and so on endlessly - he adds.

The Russian army currently has an advantage on the front in drones. Kiev estimates that the Kremlin has doubled or tripled their production, "which is felt by the front." They themselves protect their own transport corridors with large amounts of electronic weapons, while building netting along their own roads.

This tactic of small but continuous assaults has already resulted in the cutting of the Konstantynowka-Mirhorod road, west of Pokrovsk. This is not the supply line of the Ukrainian defenders of the city, but the Russian success could cause them a lot of trouble if the Russians move on Konstantynowka. The second arm of the pincer from the east still cannot close because of the stubborn defense of Chashyv Yar.

Ukrainian experts, however, believe that the main goal of the Kremlin army is to encircle a much larger area – from the southwest, northeast and north of the last major cities of the Donetsk region: Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Konstantynovka and Druzhkivka. The current cut of the road to Konstantynovka is the movement of the southern arm of the pincers.

The question is whether the Kremlin will have enough resources. Its group of about 130,000 soldiers is fighting in this area. However, it probably does not have any reserves. The brigades, attacking Pokrovsk, receive support directly from trucks: they unload soldiers brought from the rear and order them to attack immediately.

– Moscow can only strengthen certain sections of the front by moving its forces from other sections – says expert Oleksiy Hetman. There are no more people, because the number recruited in Russia is barely enough (and sometimes not enough) to replace losses. And the Kremlin is very afraid of mobilization.

The Russians have gained an advantage in drones. But the production of artillery ammunition is completely in decline. A journalistic investigation by Reuters and the Open Source Center has shown that, depending on the type, between 50 percent and 100 percent of Russian artillery shells come from North Korea. The Kremlin's dependence is so significant that a special brigade of self-propelled guns of North Korean production has been formed in one of the armies.

– We are on the eve of an even greater intensification of attacks – believes Yevhen Buderacki.