Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed a new drone unit head and reshuffled commanders to revive Moscow's stalled campaign in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Kremlin's rate of advance slowed this summer to its lowest level in recent years.
Military bloggers have criticized the army's actions. However, Putin insists Russia is advancing across the front line, despite several successful Ukrainian counterattacks that forced Russian troops out of key positions. Sitting between two Russian flags next to Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov and Defense Minister Belousov, Putin avoided criticism and expressed praise for his forces.
Russia has failed to achieve the breakthrough Putin seeks. Russian forces made small, hard-earned gains in the eastern Donbas, where they are slowly approaching Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the most important cities still controlled by Ukraine.
Frontline Struggles and Drone Technology
Research group Black Bird Group reported Russia achieved some of its smallest gains this summer since the war began, while Ukraine launched counteroffensives on other sections of the front line. Carnegie Endowment senior fellow Michael Kofman said Ukraine is now contesting the initiative Russia once held. Kofman said the Russian military wrongly believed continuous pushes through the front would reach their goals, but they are receiving diminishing returns at high costs, and the offensive has stalled.
Kofman added that changing top commanders will fix nothing. The reshuffles introduced few new faces into the top military leadership, instead moving existing commanders in line with Putin's preference to avoid publicly firing leaders for poor work.
Russia lags behind Ukraine in developing effective drone technology, while Western funds and engineers assist Kyiv. Moscow is trying to recruit more drone operators but faces growing difficulties keeping up with development. Both nations have refocused efforts on deep strikes into each other's territory as the front line remains largely unchanged, though Kofman said the bombardments are unlikely to impact the front line.
North Korean Missile Deployment
Ukrainian military intelligence representative Andriy Chernyak said a North Korean missile unit has begun deploying in western Russia. Chernyak said the unit is most likely equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers to carry out strikes against Ukraine.
