On the front, Ukrainian soldiers use a graphic term to describe the Russian tactics they face on a daily basis: they call them “meat assaults.” Waves of Russian soldiers attack their defensive positions, sometimes a dozen times a day.
Lieutenant Colonel Anton Bayev of the Ukrainian National Guard’s Khartia Brigade says wave after wave could reach frontline positions in northern Kharkiv within hours.
“The Russians use this in most cases simply to see where our firing equipment is located and to constantly exhaust our units,” he says.
“Our boys stay in position and fight, and when you are attacked by four or five waves of enemies in one day, which you have to destroy endlessly, it is very difficult, not only physically, but also psychologically.”
The tactic has led to a staggering number of Russian casualties since Moscow launched its latest offensive two months ago. About 1,200 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded every day in May and June, the highest rate since the start of the war, according to Western officials.
Drones usually detect attackers quickly, and the Russians tend to leave their dead and wounded on the battlefield, says Lieutenant Colonel Bayev. “Their main task is simply to attack us and exhaust us completely.”
The tactic shows a strategy in which Russia seeks to make the most of its key advantage: numbers.
In Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Captain Ivan Sekach of the 110th Ukrainian Brigade compares what he sees to a conveyor belt that is leading Russians to their deaths, but allowing them to advance slowly.
Russia benefits from having a significantly larger population than Ukraine. Some of those taking part in the raids are former prisoners, but Russia also recruits many for a one-time fee that sometimes amounts to thousands of dollars.
There are even complaints from the Russian side about “crippled regiments” where wounded soldiers are forced back into combat. One video shows dozens of men, some on crutches, appealing to their commanders because they say they are wounded and need hospital treatment, but are instead sent back to the front.
All of this, Western officials say, means that Moscow can continue to send soldiers, however poorly trained, directly to the front at the same rate that they are killed or wounded.
Ukraine could not match Russian tactics even if it had the necessary troops, partly because of a different attitude to casualties.
A senior general has been dismissed in recent weeks following complaints that he was using what are often called Soviet tactics: throwing people at the front.
“There is a lot of criticism because we have lost many of our men due to a Soviet-type mentality and strategy,” says Ivan Stupak, a former Security Service officer. “We are short of personnel. We have no choice but to think about our people.”
In the area around Kharkiv, Russian advances have stopped. But in the east, Russia’s attritional approach is making slow but steady progress.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of Russians. And they are trying to carry out this rolling operation centimetre by centimetre, inch by inch, 100 metres a day, 200 metres a day. And, unfortunately, for them it is a success,” says Stupak.
There is frustration in kyiv over the pace of Western support. One senior official complains that they are getting enough aid to keep from losing, but not enough to win.
Western officials acknowledge that 2024 has been a tough year for Ukraine, with delays in the arrival of U.S. military assistance creating a huge strain on defenses, at a cost in territory and lives.
“It seems the approach is to gradually increase it,” Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told the BBC.
“We receive it little by little, and I have the impression that our Western allies give us a little bit of weapons and see what happens next, as if they are afraid of what they call escalation.”
The lifting of restrictions on the use of US weapons on the border with Russia has made all the difference and helped halt Moscow’s assault on Kharkiv.
“If we have to fight with our hands tied behind our backs, we will bleed ourselves dry. That is why it is of crucial importance that we are allowed to use long-range missiles on Russian territory, and we already have results,” Merezhko said.
But a Ukrainian official said the use of longer-range strikes against Russia was only a palliative and was not fundamentally altering the dynamics of the war.
“We are heading towards a stalemate,” says former security services official Ivan Stupak, who admits that this could ultimately lead to the “bitter pill” of some kind of negotiation.
During a visit to kyiv last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban initially suggested a ceasefire to speed up negotiations, a stance that Kiev officials are wary of.
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Zelensky, told reporters in Washington: “We are not ready to compromise on very important things and values.”
Ukrainians fear that without firm security guarantees — such as NATO membership, rather than vague talk of a bridge to that status — Russia could regroup and strike again in the future.
Vladimir Putin is counting on wearing down Ukraine on the battlefield and overcoming the West’s resolve to support it. As well as launching guided aerial bombs at frontline positions and civilians in Kharkiv, Moscow has also attacked energy infrastructure across the country, leading to increasingly frequent blackouts and concerns about what winter may bring.
The US elections in November add another layer of uncertainty, along with the question of whether the European Union could realistically take charge.
For Lieutenant Colonel Anton Bayev on the front line near Kharkiv, the ability to strike Russia may have been vital, but he now sees his enemy adapting its tactics, and not just with “flesh raids”.
Losses are now coming from mortar and glider bomb attacks, while Ukrainian forces remain short of ammunition.
“We need everything and there is always something missing,” he says.
“The boys are holding on. We are all holding on. It is hard, but everyone knows the price and why all this is being done.”
Additional reporting by Hanna Tsyba and Kyla Herrmannsen
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