Russian forces have opened a spring offensive in eastern Ukraine, deploying dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles in what Ukrainian officials say is a shift from last year’s reliance on small infantry units.
By Nathan Morley
Russian forces have opened a spring offensive in eastern Ukraine, deploying dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles in what Ukrainian officials say is a shift from last year’s reliance on small infantry units.
Ukraine’s military says its troops are heavily outnumbered along several parts of the front and are depending on drones to disrupt advancing Russian units. Analysts say the scale of the assault marks a change in Russian tactics after months of attempts to infiltrate Ukrainian lines with small groups of soldiers.
Ukrainian servicemen hit a Russian drone as police officers work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike
The escalation comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that the conflict in the Middle East is complicating Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts. He said meetings are being postponed because of the crisis involving Iran, adding that Russia is taking advantage of the distraction to intensify attacks in the east.
The war, now in its fifth year, is increasingly shaped by surveillance and strike drones, making resupply of frontline positions difficult in several areas.
One focus of Russian operations is the town of Lyman in Donetsk, on the edge of Ukraine’s so‑called fortress belt — a defensive line protecting the larger city of Sloviansk.
The Institute for the Study of War says there are signs Russia may expand ground operations toward other key strongpoints in the belt, including Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka.
The developments come as U.S. and Ukrainian delegations met in Miami on Saturday, even as peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv remain stalled.
