Masquerade warfare and barefoot infantry: How Russian soldiers are changing tactics
The war in Ukraine is evolving, and the battles raging around the two key cities of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk are evidence of how this transformation is playing out.
What began as a conflict dominated by artillery and tanks has become a war of drones – and recently, on the Russian side, of infiltration and stealth.
Mechanised assaults have become rare because the increasing accuracy and power of Ukrainian drones, along with the Kremlin's dwindling stockpiles of armour, make them too risky.
Russian infiltration
Instead, what we're seeing in Pokrovsk in particular is small groups of Russian soldiers, often just two or three-man teams, sent to infiltrate the city.
Some even entered Kupiansk by crawling through gas pipes that run under the Oskil river.
Once inside, they attack Ukrainian vehicles or go hunting for the Ukrainian drone pilots who have killed so many Russian troops.
But the cost of this Donbas offensive has been colossal, with 350,000 men being killed or injured this year alone and 1.1 million since the start of the war.
That's 1,000 casualties every single day – and the life expectancy of the Kremlin's contract soldiers is now just one month.
The drone threat
Drones are the number one killer of Russian soldiers, and the only way to survive them is to stay unseen – so Russia is relying on so-called barefoot infantry.
This sees Russian soldiers fighting in smaller autonomous units using motorcycles, not mechanised assaults. This is known as decentralised warfighting.
Bad weather, fog and darkness – conditions that were once seen as an obstacle – are now being used as a shield, masking heat signatures and confusing the optics that drones need to work effectively.
In both Pokrovsk and Kupiansk, Russian soldiers have also reportedly infiltrated and then attacked dressed in civilian clothes – what the Ukrainian commanders call "masquerade warfare".
War crimes
This tactic – formally known as perfidy – is considered a war crime under international humanitarian law.
It blurs the line between enemy forces and non-combatants and increases the risk that innocent civilians will be targeted.
While artillery is still important – and Russia has vastly more than Ukraine – it's now increasingly guided onto target by drones, some of which are being powered by AI.
The battlefield in Ukraine is now transparent, saturated with sensors, electronic warfare and autonomous weapons.
And after a year in which the Russians made few, if any, significant gains, Pokrovsk and Kupiansk represent much-needed prizes for Vladimir Putin.
So they offer him a chance to show the Russian public some success and set the stage for another possible year of war.
Join Our Newsletter
