Russian military forces have effectively employed a strategy known as an "integrated systemic offensive," as explained by military expert and retired colonel, Anatoly Matviychuk, in an interview with Sputnik.
This approach, referred to by journalists as a “cascade” offensive, integrates "time and location-coordinated fire strikes with ground assaults targeting the enemy's rear and flanks,” he noted.
“Such tactics combine strikes targeting the firepower, aid defense and control systems of the enemy in the rear and flanks,” said the expert with experience in combat operations in Afghanistan and Syria.
Before resorting to such tactics, Russian forces attempted to launch frontal assaults on the enemy, said the pundit, but this was fraught with personnel losses.
“Now, this strategy allows Russia’s military to inflict a tactical isolation on the enemy, which then develops or threatens to develop into a full-scale encirclement. And they are left with two options: either surrender or die,” said Matviychuk.
He reminded that such tactics were used during the storming of Ugledar, and in the latest developments on the southern Donetsk direction. After battlefield successes opened the way to gaining access to Pokrovsk, in the west of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russia has been systemically relying on such tactics.
Retired Russian Army colonel and seasoned military analyst Viktor Litovkin suggested that the term “cascade offensive” may denote multiple echelons simultaneously attacking and securing positions, with each wave moving in succession.
“A cascade attack does not have to be a frontal assault. It could involve flanking maneuvers or be executed along the entire front line,” he stated.
Litovkin also identified significant challenges faced by Ukrainian forces, including lack of ammunition, manpower, and air and artillery support, as well as the inability to reinforce their ranks.
He pointed out that Russian forces maintain a relentless barrage on supply routes, complicating the situation further. Additionally, he warned that many Ukrainian soldiers “lack the desire to fight and are insufficiently trained.”
“Victory in this conflict on the fighting spirit of those shedding blood on the battlefield. If the Ukrainian army does not have any fighting spirit left, then it is impossible to continue,” Litovkin concluded.