Ukraine Details New Russian Assault Tactics Using Lone Soldiers Without Armor as Drones Push Tanks to Third Row

Joint Forces Group spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said on Sunday that Russian assault tactics have shifted toward single soldiers or small groups of two to three crossing a roughly 20-kilometer drone "kill zone" on the northeastern front, down from groups of four to five a year earlier 123. Troops who make it through reportedly shelter and wait for others before regrouping for a more organized push 23. Trehubov said heavy equipment is "virtually no longer being used" in assaults, with tanks moved to what he called the "third row," and that a single damaged tank per day now counts as a successful hunt, usually striking armor held deep in the rear 14. He said Russian forces can still commit tanks only with massed drone support or in poor weather that limits Ukrainian drone flights, and separately noted that Russian glide-bomb use against fixed positions remains heavy despite jamming and low accuracy 12. Trehubov added that Russian personnel are visibly depleted as of late summer into fall, and that drone capabilities between the two sides have reached rough parity, without the imbalance that existed earlier in the war 3.