Russian troops fight desperate battles for Ukraine’s east ahead of winter
Al Jazeera
Russia is reportedly disregarding heavy casualties in a bid to capture ground while vehicles can still manoeuvre.
Ukrainian troops are locked in a bitter battle for the town of Toretsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, which Russian troops entered last Friday.
A spokesperson for Luhansk Technical University said Russian troops were demolishing the town as they advanced.
“They erase the city with artillery. We have already seen it in other towns of Donbas. And after that, they storm in small groups. They are trying to find weak points in our defence with such small strikes,” Anastasia Bobovnikova said.
Such Russian tactics have been reported elsewhere too.
Ivan Petrychak, spokesman for the Ukrainian 24th Mechanised Brigade, said Russian forces were conducting small-scale assaults in the Chasiv Yar area, 23km (14 miles) north of Toretsk, to infiltrate poorly guarded positions and use them to attack Ukrainian units from close quarters.
