{"id":268268,"date":"2025-03-27T19:15:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T19:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/drones-mines-and-snipers-ukraines-front-line-is-a-world-away-from-peace-talks\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T19:15:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T19:15:03","slug":"drones-mines-and-snipers-ukraines-front-line-is-a-world-away-from-peace-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/drones-mines-and-snipers-ukraines-front-line-is-a-world-away-from-peace-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Drones, Mines and Snipers: Ukraine\u2019s Front Line Is a World Away from Peace Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/26\/multimedia\/26int-ukraine-frontline-01-promo\/26int-ukraine-frontline-01-pmwq-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Drones, Mines and Snipers: Ukraine\u2019s Front Line Is a World Away from Peace Talks\" title=\"Drones, Mines and Snipers: Ukraine\u2019s Front Line Is a World Away from Peace Talks\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hunted by drones, stalked by snipers and surrounded by minefields, soldiers fighting in Ukraine can\u2019t risk even a small lapse in concentration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That is why Col. Dmytro Palisa, commander of Ukraine\u2019s 33rd Mechanized Brigade, instructs his soldiers to ignore speculation about a possible cease-fire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey start relaxing, they start overthinking, putting on rose-colored glasses, thinking that tomorrow will be easier. No,\u201d he said in an interview at a command post on the eastern front. \u201cWe shoot until we are given the order to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As diplomats and European leaders thousands of miles away talk about a possible truce and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/27\/world\/europe\/european-leaders-ukraine-support.html\" title=\"\">how to safeguard it<\/a>, Russia and Ukraine are engaged in bloody battles as intense as any of the war. The furious fighting, tearing across the Ukrainian front, is, in part, a late play for land and leverage in the talks, which the Trump administration says are making progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine says he believes Russia intends to launch new offensive operations \u201cto put maximum pressure on Ukraine and then issue ultimatums from a position of strength,\u201d as he put it last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Kyiv wants to deny Moscow that advantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukrainian forces remain outnumbered and outgunned \u2014 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/03\/07\/nytfrontpage\/scan.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">much as they have been<\/a> since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago. But they have largely halted Russian advances so far this year and are now engaged in localized counterattacks to claw back land.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Military analysts tracking battlefield developments <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/10\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-eastern-front-line.html\" title=\"\">confirm that the already glacial pace<\/a> of Russian advances has largely stalled, even though Moscow\u2019s forces continue to launch assaults along key parts of the front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-769febcb\">\u2018This war keeps changing the rules\u2019<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In interviews from the front line, Ukrainian soldiers and military leaders credited several factors for their resilience: New defensive strategies that more completely integrate drones, rapid adaptation to shifting threats, signs of Russian fatigue and improving morale under a new commander of ground forces, Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis war keeps changing the rules,\u201d Colonel Palisa said. \u201cThat means we constantly have to adapt. Every night, before going to sleep, we already have to plan an alternative strategy for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/16\/world\/europe\/ukraine-kursk-retreat-russia.html\" title=\"\">Ukrainian retreat<\/a> from most of the Kursk region of Russia earlier this month promises to again reshape the contours of the fight. Tens of thousands of soldiers dedicated to Moscow\u2019s seven-month campaign to retake Russian land there can now be redeployed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Col. Oleh Hrudzevych, 35, deputy commander of Ukraine\u2019s 43rd Mechanized Brigade, said that the Kursk campaign \u201creally pulled a significant part of enemy forces\u201d and firepower from other parts of the front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For instance, he said, while battles raged in Kursk, there was a 50 percent drop in the number of aerial bombs \u2014 one of Russia\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/27\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-donetsk-bomb.html\" title=\"\">most effective weapons<\/a> \u2014 in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/11\/world\/europe\/kupiansk-ukraine-russia-occupation.html\" title=\"\">the Kupiansk area<\/a> on the northern edge of the eastern front, where he is deployed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russian forces, he said, have been limited to \u201cmosquito bite\u201d tactics \u2014 small assaults that generally end in failure. But he expects that Russia may now redirect some forces to his area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Capt. Yurii Fedorenko, commander of the 429th Achilles Unmanned Systems Regiment, said that the main task along the northeastern part of the front was keeping Russian troops from expanding their small foothold on <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/11\/world\/europe\/ukraine-kharkiv-russian-retreat.html\" title=\"\">the Oskil River<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Unable to erect pontoon bridges because of the threat posed by Ukrainian drones and artillery, the Russian forces have been using small boats to ferry men and equipment across the river under the cover of bad weather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Captain Fedorenko said that for nearly a month, Russian units had failed to expand their position and continued to pay a heavy price to hold the land they have.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe conducted a drone flyover of a small tree line about 200 meters long and quite narrow,\u201d he said. \u201cIn that one tree line alone, we counted around 190 enemy bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Drone footage shared by the Ukrainian military with The Times generally supports his account. But it was not possible to independently verify the precise number of Russian soldiers who were killed or injured, or to measure the Ukrainian losses over that same period of time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hundreds of miles away, on the banks of the Dnipro River on the southern front, the Russian forces are searching for weak points in the Ukrainian line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Two months ago, Russian troops launched a series of cross-river assaults \u2014 using some 15 to 20 boats in each attack, soldiers said \u2014 but the effort failed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, the Russian military is launching probing attacks, trying to press north along the river toward <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/28\/world\/europe\/russia-glide-bombs-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">the city of Zaporizhzhia<\/a>, which is under Ukrainian control. President Vladimir V. Putin and other Russian officials have said publicly that their goal is to fully control the city and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But their plans to try to encircle Zaporizhzhia were put on hold when Russian troops were redirected to Kursk, said Sr. Sgt. Andrii Klymenko, who has been fighting in the area for many months. His claim was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.understandingwar.org\/backgrounder\/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-25-2024\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">supported by analysts<\/a> who track Russian military movements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cNow they\u2019re simply going to revive it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-1096e788\">A \u2018Mad Max\u2019 aesthetic<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Much of the most ferocious fighting continues to be concentrated in the rolling hills and ruined industrial cities of the eastern Donbas region, where after three years <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/10\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-eastern-front-line.html\" title=\"\">Russia has failed<\/a> to seize control of two coveted targets: the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Colonel Palisa oversees a stretch of Ukrainian defenses south of Pokrovsk, a city in Donetsk, where Russian offensive operations <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/09\/11\/world\/europe\/russia-pokrovsk-advance.html\" title=\"\">made the bulk of their progress<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Colonel Palisa said that aggressive drone warfare and smart defensive tactics had, for now, blunted Russia\u2019s advantages. \u201cThe enemy hasn\u2019t advanced a single meter in this sector for the past three to four weeks,\u201d he noted. \u201cAs of now, we can say that we have stabilized the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At the same time, he added, his forces have had to adjust to a growing threat: the proliferation of Russian drones tethered to ultrathin fiber-optic cables that render them immune to electronic jamming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen they didn\u2019t have fiber optics, we could still move around,\u201d he said. After the fiber-optic drones appeared, he said, his brigade lost some 10 vehicles in just seven days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThat made me realize that we had to completely change our approach and abandon vehicles altogether,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Like their Russian counterparts, Ukrainian soldiers now frequently use quad bikes and buggies or move on foot. They often wear cloaks that mask a soldier\u2019s heat signature from drones outfitted with thermal vision cameras.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Netting has been strung over critical supply roads, a simple but effective defense that Colonel Palisa said had cut successful enemy attacks by more than half. And soldiers now routinely carry shotguns along with their assault rifles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It makes for a sort of \u2018Mad Max\u2019 aesthetic as tanks and armored vehicles mix with civilian cars, motorcycles and quad bikes retrofitted with cages and jammers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The low-tech adaptations, along with a broad restructuring of the military, are strategies that Kyiv hopes will allow Ukraine to continue fighting \u2014 even as its primary military ally, the United States, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/04\/world\/europe\/trump-ukraine-aid.html\" title=\"\">pulls back support<\/a>, increasingly <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/20\/world\/trump-putin-russia-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">repeats the Kremlin\u2019s narrative<\/a> and pressures Ukraine into cease-fire negotiations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the front line, any talk about a lasting peace still feels like a dangerous fantasy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Soldiers say they believe that the fighting will continue until the price of war becomes too high for the Kremlin to bear and Ukraine is made strong enough to deter any future aggression.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are fighting for the right to live,\u201d Captain Fedorenko said. \u201cAmericans must understand that this is not about pressuring Ukraine into some abstract peace. Such a peace is not possible \u2014 because Ukraine did not start this war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Olha Konovalova<!-- --> contributed reporting from eastern and southern Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/27\/world\/europe\/ukraine-front-line-peace-talks.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hunted by drones, stalked by snipers and surrounded by minefields, soldiers fighting in Ukraine can\u2019t risk even a small lapse in concentration. That is why Col. Dmytro Palisa, commander of Ukraine\u2019s 33rd Mechanized Brigade, instructs his soldiers to ignore speculation about a possible cease-fire. \u201cThey start relaxing, they start overthinking, putting on rose-colored glasses, thinking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/26\/multimedia\/26int-ukraine-frontline-01-promo\/26int-ukraine-frontline-01-pmwq-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[137233,5138,163809,8240,3096,5627,29940,3166,103120,202,61881,66,1130,11626,128437,1052],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268270,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268268\/revisions\/268270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}