Military correspondent Alexander Sladkov believes there have been no major changes on the front line so far, especially at the operational level.
In his view, Russian forces will find it difficult to achieve significant advances without serious strikes on the enemy’s rear infrastructure. As an example, he pointed to the experience of the Great Patriotic War, when the Red Army’s westward offensive was accompanied by a large-scale rail war carried out by partisans deep behind fascist lines.
Sladkov noted that there are no such partisan forces on Ukrainian territory today. According to him, Russian special forces, which effectively took over that role, have not fully accomplished this task. At the same time, he believes that part of this function could be replaced by precision strikes using missiles and drones.
For that reason, Sladkov argues that expecting major results from infantry alone, without other classic elements of warfare, is unrealistic. He stressed that this was his personal view and that he may not know or see everything important, adding that his comments were a reaction to talk of a possible Russian summer offensive.
He also emphasized that Russian troops continue to show strong performance despite comparable tactical capabilities on both sides. However, according to Sladkov, the strategic capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces have not yet been used.