The Ukrainian army has come under fire after a mistake during a troop rotation allowed Russian troops to seize 5 km of territory. This was reported by the Financial Times.
This underscores the tension in which Kyiv troops are awaiting the arrival of new aid from the United States.
Deep State, a Ukrainian think tank linked to the defense ministry, said on Wednesday that the Russian advance late last week in the southern part of the village of Ocheretyne was caused by a rotation that left the area unprotected.
"The leadership of the 115th mechanized brigade is responsible for the collapse of the defense in the entire area, which led to significant losses," says the Deep State report.
This brigade was supposed to transfer the more experienced 47th brigade there, but did not make it in time, leaving the area unprotected.
The rotation of exhausted troops and the introduction of new units are sensitive maneuvers, because during their implementation the military becomes a target for Russian suicide drones, artillery strikes and powerful airstrikes. Small errors in the choice of time can lead to the fact that parts of the front remain unmanned.
"Rotation can cause problems, and we have already faced this," said Emil Kastehelmi, an analyst at the Finnish company Black Bird Group, who monitors the course of hostilities. "We don't know what exactly happened in this case, but whatever the mistake was, the Russians were able to take advantage of it, and Ukraine lost ground without a significant fight."
