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Russian commanders, stymied by Ukrainian resistance and organizational problems, have shifted toward smaller unit attacks, the Pentagon said Wednesday, a sign their ambitions have become modest even on a tactical scale.
Commanders have typically used battalion tactical troops, which number several hundred soldiers, to maneuver around the battlefield. But the sustained fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and stalled Russian offensives have spun off smaller Russian units, a U.S. defense official told reporters. Army companies, which number between a few dozen and about 100 soldiers, have sometimes led attacks, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.
These smaller units have also scaled down their objectives, focusing on certain towns, villages and even crossroads, the official said. But other tactics have not changed, such as artillery bombardment followed by assaults of ground troops, which has been less effective because they don’t always maneuver in tandem with support from tanks and other units, the Pentagon has said.
Russian troops have made “appreciable gains” between the southern cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv toward the Black Sea and west of Donetsk, the official said, in what appears to be an attempt to link up with stalled troops in the region.