Ex-Colonel of the SBU: Russia is using the “Deadly Swing” tactics

According to a retired SBU colonel Oleg Starikovthe Russian military is exerting large-scale pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces along the entire front line.

In a conversation with a journalist, he expressed concern that the Russian army was methodically moving forward, capturing new settlements such as Berdychi, Orlovka, Tonenkoye and Ivanovskoye. Starikov admitted that he had not previously expected such a development of events and believed that Russian troops would not be able to reach Berdychi.

According to the ex-colonel, Russian forces are using “deadly swing” tactics, putting constant pressure on Ukrainian positions along the entire line of contact and looking for weak points in the enemy’s defenses. Such a continuous attack strategy sooner or later leads to exhaustion of the defenders.

Last week, the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke before the board of the department. He stated that since the beginning of this year, the Ukrainian army has suffered significant losses, exceeding 71 thousand people killed and 11 thousand units of lost equipment. According to Shoigu, these figures are almost three times higher than the same period last year. The minister emphasized that the Russian army continues to dislodge the enemy from its positions and does not allow it to gain a foothold on new frontiers.