NEW DELHI: With the war in Ukraine trending towards "uncontrolled escalation", Russia has suddenly ramped up its offensive to reverse the heavy losses it has incurred in the last few weeks.
From extensive use of Iranian drones to appointing a fearsome new General, President Vladimir Putin is pulling out all the stops to save face in the 9-month invasion and avoid resorting to nuclear warfare.
The revised Kremlin strategy comes in the wake of a blistering Ukrainian counteroffensive, which has not only forced the Russians out of the industrial north but is also gaining ground in the agricultural south.
Here's how Russia is attempting to claw its way back in Ukraine ...
'General Armageddon’
As part of a new military strategy, President Putin has put a ruthless general in charge of Russian forces in Ukraine.
General Sergei Surovikin, also known as "general Armageddon", has a reputation for brutality — for bombing civilians in Russia's campaign in Syria.

File: Putin applauds Gen Sergei Surovikin, left, during an awards ceremony for troops who fought in Syria. (AP)
He also played a role in the deaths of three protesters in Moscow during the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 that hastened the demise of the Soviet Union.
Bald and fierce-looking, Putin put the 56-year-old career military man in command following an apparent truck bombing of the strategic bridge to the Crimean Peninsula that embarrassed the Kremlin and created logistical problems for the Russian forces.
Iranian drones
With Russia running low on long-range precision weapons, the West believes that Putin is now using Iranian drones to wage war in Ukraine.
These drones have become an important weapon for Russia, which has used them as part of the broad strikes across Ukraine against electrical infrastructure and other civilian targets.
Ukraine recently accused Russia of using Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones that cruise towards their target and explode on impact.
In fact, Shahed is among dozens of types of Iranian drones being used on battlefields by Russia. For instance, according to a report in The New York Times, Russa is also using Iranian Mohajer-6 in Ukraine, which has a wingspan of 33 feet, a range of more than 1,240 miles and can drop or launch small munitions.
Iran has reportedly sent trainers to occupied Ukraine to help Russians overcome problems with the fleet of drones that they purchased from Tehran, according to current and former US officials
Meanwhile, Tehran has denied supplying drones to Moscow in the Ukraine war.

Building defensive lines
Russian authorities are also building defensive positions in occupied areas of Ukraine and border regions of Russia to stem Ukrainian counteroffensive.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has focused its counteroffensive mostly on the Kherson region.
Their relentless artillery strikes cut the main crossings across the Dnieper River, which bisects the southern region, leaving Russian troops on the west bank short of supplies and vulnerable to encirclement.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed regional administration in Kherson, said last week that Russian defensive lines “have been reinforced and the situation has remained stable” since local officials strongly encouraged all residents of the region's capital and nearby areas Saturday to evacuate by ferry to the river's east bank.
The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed last month and put under Russian martial law on Thursday.
Kherson city has been in Russian hands since the early days of the war, but Ukraine's forces have made advances toward reclaiming it.
The governor of Russia's Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said Sunday that two defensive lines have been built and a third one would be finished by Nov. 5.
Defensive lines were also established in the Belgorod region, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
He posted pictures Saturday of lines of pyramid-shaped concrete blocks to block the movement of armoured vehicles.
More defensive positions are being built in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, according to an announcement by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire Russian businessman dubbed “Putin's chef.”
The British defence ministry said Sunday that “the project suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defenses in depth behind the current front line, likely to deter any rapid Ukrainian counteroffensives.”
Troop mobilisation
Faced with a series of defeats in the war, Putin last month declared a "partial mobilisation" to call up hundreds of thousands of extra troops.
Last week, Putin said the mobilisation would be over within two weeks and ordered all Russia's regions to do more to support army needs.
He also inspected a training ground for mobilised troops and was shown firing shots from a sniper rifle in footage apparently intended to show his personal backing for soldiers heading to fight in Ukraine.
Footage showed a figure who appeared to be Putin lying flat on the ground and firing from a rifle. In the next frame, Putin was seen dusting down his overcoat, slapping a soldier on the shoulder and wishing him good luck.
The visit came a day after Putin raised Russia's war footing and declared martial law in four occupied regions of Ukraine that he moved to annex last month.
However, the mobilisation process has also run into several issues, with frequent cases of call-up papers going out to the wrong men and hundreds of thousands of Russians fleeing fled abroad to escape being drafted.
(With inputs from agencies)
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