The New York Times: Russian commanders have been using tactic known as ‘elastic defense’ in Ukraine

Military analysts say that Russian commanders have been using a tactic known as “elastic defense” to prevent Ukraine from holding villages and other positions as staging grounds for future attacks, Report informs, citing The New York Times.

Across desolate fields and shattered villages, Ukraine’s counteroffensive is confronting Russian minefields and Russian soldiers dug into elaborate trench networks.
But one unusually daunting obstacle to Ukrainian troops is a tactic adopted by Russian forces: ceding ground and then striking back.

Rather than holding a line of trenches at all costs in the face of Ukraine’s assault, security experts say, Russian commanders have employed a longstanding military tactic known as “elastic defense.”

To execute the tactic, Russian forces pull back to a second line of positions, encouraging Ukrainian troops to advance, and then strike back when the opposing forces are vulnerable — either while moving across open ground or as they arrive at the recently abandoned Russian positions.