Russia Digs In for Attrition War as Putin’s Approval Slumps
Russia is optimising its forces for grinding positional warfare rather than the mechanised manoeuvre needed for rapid gains, and neither side made confirmed advances on Friday, according to the latest campaign assessment. A Russian state-affiliated pollster recorded one of the sharpest falls in President Putin’s approval since the war began. In Kyiv, President Zelensky pressed on with a sweeping wartime cabinet reshuffle, installing a new prime minister and moving to change his defence chief.
The assessment argues that Moscow’s war priorities and poor economic management are dragging Russia towards broader decline, a rare signal of strain behind the front. Overnight Russia fired guided missiles and more than a hundred drones at Ukraine, and Kyiv was placed on alert over ballistic-missile threats. Zelensky’s reshuffle installed the former Naftogaz chief Serhiy Koretsky as prime minister, part of a churn he says is meant to sharpen delivery on foreign policy and the war. Casualty and equipment claims on both sides are single-sourced and should be treated with care. Watch whether the personnel changes steady or disrupt Ukraine’s war management heading into winter.