Yuri Butusov: Russians Change Strategy

The new offensive will not be "big arrows on the map".

The goal of the Russian army now is not to seize large territories quickly, but to reduce the combat efficiency of the Ukrainian army in order to prevent the AFU from using its advantage in Western equipment.

Censor.net editor-in-chief Yuri Butusov said this in the programme of "UP. Chat".

"They have changed their strategy of action now. That is, all people by analogy again think, perhaps, that it will be some big columns that will go to Kyiv. The war has changed. It will never happen again," he said.

According to Butusov, the Russians' main goal now is to defeat our combat-ready units and to reduce the Ukrainian army's combat efficiency in general. He says the invaders want to "conduct an exchange of their manpower for ours, using their advantage in numbers".

"When we talk about an offensive, it won't necessarily take the form of these big arrows on the map and rapid breakthroughs. It means that the enemy will make additional mobilization, further increase the advantage in certain parts of the front and try to move forward," the Censor.net chief explained.

Butusov said that Russia aims to take over the entire Donbass within 2023, knocking out Ukraine's defenders from such key hubs as Bakhmut, Seversk, Kupyansk, Vuhledar and Avdiivka.

"We have to realise that they have studied us to a certain extent and exercise our advantage in intelligence, in motivation. That is to change tactics and not allow them to use their strengths, to use what we have," Butusov summed up.