Footage located by the Institute for the Study of War shows Russian armored vehicles attacking around Avdiivka. Telegram photo
One expert told Business Insider that the flat terrain and number of drones in the sky made it difficult to surprise the other side.
Analyst Riley Bailey at the Institute for the Study of War said attacks are unlikely to succeed without surprise.
“A lot of mechanized warfare relies to some extent on surprise to be able to advance quickly and catch the enemy off guard,” he said. “By all indications, along the current front line Now, that’s not really possible. One reason is the flat terrain in eastern and southern Ukraine – there’s nowhere to hide armored convoys. In some areas, it’s all flat. flat and you can see anyone from miles away.”
Another reason, according to Mr. Bailey, is that there are so many drones in the sky.
Both Russia and Ukraine rely heavily on both surveillance and attack drones, with soldiers describing skies filled with them in some battles.
Surveillance drones are used to track enemies and often provide targeting data for artillery and other long-range weapons.
Attack drones themselves are weapons; in some cases, armored vehicles and tanks are damaged and disabled.
Both Russia and Ukraine suffered losses when trying to use convoys of tanks and armored vehicles.
However, Russia has experienced it on a much larger scale, consistently seeing major losses, while Ukraine has shifted away from this strategy much more quickly, Bailey said.
Russian tank losses took place in Bucha in 2022, in Vuhledar in early 2023 and continuously in the eastern town of Avdiivka around the end of 2023.
Russia and Ukraine are still fighting over Avdiivka, which has become one of the flashpoints of the war.
According to Ukraine, Russian losses there included 44 tanks in just one day. US intelligence said in December that Russia had lost more than 220 tanks and 13,000 troops at Avdiivka since it launched its offensive there in October.
Meanwhile, Ukraine saw huge losses of vehicles when it began its counteroffensive in the summer, but the country changed tactics quickly, Mr. Bailey said. Since then, there have been no reports of mass losses of Ukrainian tanks and vehicles.
The lack of any breakthroughs in vehicles and tanks, as well as the difficulty both sides encountered in trying to surprise each other, contributed to the dramatic nature of the battle, as neither side achieve any major breakthrough.
The dense defense system deployed by Russia, including minefields, also helped keep the battlefield calm. Ukraine said its allies did not send the weapons needed to achieve a breakthrough.
