Ukraine is getting a new upper hand on the battlefield.
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images
Ukraine's new tactics and drone tech have allowed it to build rare momentum against Russia, according to analysts, Ukrainian officials, and Western intelligence.Russia's invasion has been a brutal, grinding battle with little change to the front lines in recent years.That may be starting to change.Ukraine has been slowing Russian advances, striking targets Moscow once treated as safe, and regaining some ground.New drone types are allowing Ukraine to hit areas Russia once considered safe, including depots, vehicles, air defenses, and supply routes that support Russian troops at the front. The goal is to isolate parts of the battlefield, making it harder for Russia to move troops and supplies where they are needed.Better planning and new systems mean Ukraine is also getting better at using those weapons strategically rather than simply reacting to Russian assaults, analysts say."What we're currently seeing is a new phase of the war," Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russian warfare expert at the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, told Business Insider.
A new phase of the warUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that Ukraine is "gradually taking back occupied territory," adding that "in May, Russia achieved almost no meaningful results on the battlefield."
