Commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the goals of the Ukrainian army remain to hold their positions and exhaust the Russian forces.
Source. He said this in an interview with Reuters.
Syrsky spoke about the realities on the battlefield, which dampened hopes for a major Ukrainian breakthrough. According to him, Ukrainian troops have switched to "active defense" and should not be seen as an offensive force.
"Our goals remain unchanged: to hold our positions, to exhaust the enemy by inflicting maximum losses on him," the Ukrainian Army commander said.
He added that Russia is seeking to seize the initiative as the second anniversary of the invasion approaches.
According to Syrsky, Russian troops are advancing in several directions along the eastern front, seeking to establish full control over Donbas despite heavy losses in men and equipment.
Russia also hopes to regain lost ground in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, he added.
Ukrainian troops, in turn, are conducting small counterattacks, which Syrsky called "active defense": keeping the enemy on the edge of their seats, they are looking for opportunities to strike, trying to regain the initiative.
According to him, combat operations on both sides are being conducted on a smaller scale to save ammunition and men.
"Offensive operations at the battalion level are very rare," Syrsky said, adding that the increased use of drones has forced the sides to change their tactics.
Background. As a reminder, Syrsky said that Ukraine needs more attack aircraft to conduct offensive operations and that the Ukrainian Armed Forces lack ammunition to maintain the required level of attacks.