Russia's "pincer encirclement" tactics on the battlefield in Ukraine
Russia has established five large pincers on the Ukrainian battlefield, but Kiev claims Moscow has failed in its summer offensive.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•27/07/2025
The Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) are establishing five large encirclement formations on the Ukrainian battlefield, including Chasov Yar, Kupyansk, Vovchansk, Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk. At the same time, the RFAF has launched a three-pronged pincer attack on the above-mentioned defense areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU). According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, after the RFAF captured Nikolayevka (Mykolaivka), a logistics center located just 6 km from Chasov Yar; the logistics support for the Ukrainian defense forces there encountered very serious problems. This will create conditions for further improvement of the situation and may accelerate the RFAF's complete overrun of Chasov Yar.
The pincer attack tactic is simple in words, but very complicated in practice. The advantage of the pincer attack tactic is that it can attack from three main directions, limiting the supply line and forcing the enemy to disperse their defenses. However, in a pincer attack, there must still be one main direction of attack. The RFAF’s encirclement and pincer attack tactics aim to limit Russian casualties and wear down Ukrainian forces. Maintaining the initiative through pincer attacks constantly forces the enemy to make combat choices. However, the encirclement will be prolonged, resulting in a slow pace of advance. On the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, the hard power of the RFAF in terms of position is still very good, superior to the AFU + Western mercenaries + NATO intelligence system. This has been proven many times, when the RFAF attacked the strong fortresses of the AFU, with successful pincer encirclement attacks in Avadivka, Marinka, Ugledar, Kurakhove, Bakhmut, etc. Each time, the AFU had to make a life-or-death choice: Where to defend and which units would take charge? How could they coordinate multiple defense forces; choose to fight in the streets, or fight on the city’s flanks… to stop the RFAF’s pincer attack? In Kharkov Oblast, the RFAF is forming a sixth large pincer encirclement. The 69th and 72nd Motorized Rifle Divisions of the 6th Army Corps of the RFAF Leningrad Military District have entered the village of Milove for the first time. Captain Vladislav Yakovlenko of the 140th Special Operations Center of Ukraine was seriously wounded in the fighting on the Kharkov Oblast front, and the special forces unit commanded by Yakovlenko suffered heavy losses.
The RFAF's multi-point offensive actions across the Ukrainian battlefield reflected their comprehensive tactical model: the RFAF would first test the enemy's weak points through small reconnaissance strikes. Once the enemy's weak points were discovered, they would immediately concentrate their forces to launch an all-out attack. Although the AFU is struggling on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Russia's summer offensive has been difficult. In the Pokrovsk, Novopavlovsk, Kharkov, Zaporizhia and Sumy regions, the AFU fought stubbornly and stopped the Russian advance. President Zelensky said that the RFAF has not captured any town or city with a population of more than 10,000 since the summer offensive. Now, Ukraine is preparing to launch a new long-range attack on Russia. Every time Russia attacks Ukraine, the RFAF will immediately counterattack. President Zelensky believes that the RFAF's large-scale summer offensive of 2025 has been underway since mid-July, and so far there has been little progress. Next, after three months of continuous fighting, the RFAF will enter a period of rest and there will be no large-scale offensive until winter.
Regarding the situation of Ukraine's arms production, the President of Ukraine added that Kiev is closely cooperating with Germany, the United States, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and Norway to produce weapons and artillery shells. This year, Ukraine's drone production capacity will be increased to 5 million units. In the Sumy battlefield, the Ukrainian-made Lyut unmanned combat vehicle was deployed to suppress and attack Russian troops with a 7.62mm machine gun. The AFU commander said the unmanned combat vehicle system is part of a broader effort to integrate advanced unmanned technology into frontline operations, helping to minimize casualties while maintaining combat effectiveness. What is more interesting is that the commander of the 3rd Azov Independent Assault Brigade AFU said that they captured Russian soldiers using only UAVs and ground robotic systems. If true, this is the first time in the history of warfare that unmanned systems have captured prisoners alive. In addition, the AFU leader also said that two companies of Skynex 35mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, supplied by Germany, participated in combat for the first time, and shot down 6 Russian Geran-2 UAVs. After the combat tests, Rheinmetall is preparing to put the Skynex self-propelled air defense system into mass production in 2027.
Skynex is a mobile low-altitude air defense artillery system, consisting of an X-band millimeter-wave radar and electro-optical detection system, anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and low-altitude air defense missile systems. The system is designed to destroy low-flying targets below 3,000 meters; however, its ability to destroy fighter aircraft and cruise missiles is quite limited. (photo source Military Review, Kyiv Independent, Rybar. Liveuamap).
Each time, the AFU had to make a life-or-death choice: Where to defend and which units would take charge? How could they coordinate multiple defense forces; choose to fight in the streets, or fight on the city’s flanks… to stop the RFAF’s pincer attack? 
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