- Russia is deploying badly-trained troops to key front line positions, reports say.
- One Ukrainian soldier described them to The Wall Street Journal as "poor-quality."
Russia is manning its defensive line with "poor-quality" soldiers, and only switching to competent ones after Ukraine attacks, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Speaking to the publication, Ukrainian soldier Pvt. Olena Ivanenko described the brutal struggle to clear Russian trenches and consolidate Ukraine's counteroffensive gains — which can be taken and then lost in a matter of hours.
"It's like an accordion," Ivanenko told the publication. "When we push forward, the enemy pushes back."
Ukraine's battle to breach Russian defensive positions in the western Zaporizhzhia Oblast reached a crucial point this week when Ukrainian armored vehicles reportedly breached Russia's fearsome defenses with vehicles for the first time.
Ivanenko told the outlet that the Russian troops in front-line trenches are often of poor -quality and referred to as "earth movers" by the Ukrainians. But she said that when Ukrainian units move in to take trenches, Russia deploys elite units to counterattack and retake them.
Ivanenko's claims echo assessments by analysts, with respected US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War, saying Thursday that Russia appeared to be deploying its elite parachute force, the VDV, alongside Spetsnaz units in Zaporizhzhia.
The ISW in its reports on the conflict earlier in the week said that Russia's attempts to stop Ukraine breaching its defenses in Zaporizhzhia are becoming more desperate.
It said that Russian elite units appeared to have suffered heavy casualties when launching counterattacks near Robotyne, a village in western Zaporizhzhia recently retaken by Ukraine.
It added that units comprised of convict recruits — or 'Storm Z' units — had been deployed to help prevent a breach of defenses.
"'Storm-Z' detachments are often combat ineffective and will likely provide the Russian defense in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast with marginal combat power," it noted.
Ukraine's strategy appears to be to probe Russian defenses at several points on the front line simultaneously, forcing Russia to divert its most effective units.
Russian defenses near Bakhmut, east Ukraine, also came under severe pressure from Ukrainian attacks this week.
In the south, Ukraine is attempting to breach Russian defensive positions and retake the city of Melitopol, a Russian logistics hub, severing Russia's land bridge to the occupied Crimean peninsula.