Since the summer, the Russians have switched to the “1000 cuts” tactic on the front. Syrskyi told how AFU manage to counteract it

Since the beginning of the summer, the Russian occupiers have begun to use a new tactic at the front, called "a thousand cuts" — attacks by small groups that penetrate deep into Ukrainian territory to disrupt logistics and defense. The enemy used this tactic in the Dobropillia and Novopavlivka directions.

This was told to journalists by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi.

According to him, the goal of the new Russian tactic is to capture territory without using a large number of troops. The enemy began implementing this tactic in practice in the Dobropillia direction and is using it in the Novopavlovsk direction.

Syrskyi said that after a series of heavy battles in the Pokrovsky direction, in the area of the city of Myrnohrad and the village of Novoekonomichne, the fighting gradually shifted to the north. The enemy, stretching the front and having a significant advantage in forces and means, was able to advance in separate groups to a depth of 12 to 20 km.

"Anticipating such a development, we moved a number of military units. The plan was to cut off the enemy grouping along the barrier line — the Kazennyi Torets River. Thus, those enemy units that advanced deep into the area found themselves in a kind of ʼbagʼ. At the same time, we closed this line with the actions of our Airborne Assault Forces units in opposite directions from the north and south. The enemy found himself in a trap. Now he is actually being destroyed," the Commander-in-Chief said.

According to him, in total, since the beginning of the Dobropillia operation in August, the Defense Forces have already liberated 168 km², and almost 182 km² have been cleared of SRG.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine explained that a liberated territory is one that was under enemy control, and a cleared territory is one where enemy sabotage groups penetrated, but he did not finally take control of it.

"That is, a total of approximately 360 km² as of today have been liberated and cleared of the enemy. And this process continues," the commander-in-chief concluded.

He added that after the successful actions of the Defense Forces in the Dobropil direction, the enemy abandoned its offensive in the Novopavlivka direction and transferred the Marines to Dobropillia. Now these units have suffered losses and are not successful.

• On September 22, Syrskyi reported that the Ukrainian military had regained control over 1.3 km² of territory, and had also conducted a search and destruction of the enemy in an area of 2.1 km² in the Pokrovsk district of Donetsk region.

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