Ukraine counteroffensive not going too well, WSJ says
3 Min Read
The Ukrainian counteroffensive is mired with failures in light of massive losses suffered by Kiev's forces amid hardcore preparation for the battle by Russia.
-
This photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, June 9, 2023, shows a Ukrainian Leopard 2A6 tank being hit during combat in Ukraine (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Ukraine's ambitious counteroffensive against Russia - which it launched in a bid to take the lands captured by the country through the war effort - is proving to be quite a difficult task.
The frontline is laden with mines and Russia's advanced defense systems, combined with the lack of air cover on Ukraine's end, have hampered Kiev's effort to take back any land.
After Ukraine's first attacks yielded mixed results, or mostly Ukrainian forces halted their attacks in recent days as commanders drew lessons from the past two weeks and tried to figure out how to penetrate Russian lines without suffering heavy losses, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In the southern regions of Zaporozhye and eastern Donetsk, Ukrainian forces are still making their way through Russia's first lines of defense and are yet to reach the main line of Russian fortifications.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to launch its own attacks in other parts of eastern Ukraine, while also raining down missiles and drones on Ukrainian cities.
Although Ukraine has achieved some tactical advantages, the push so far is still local and limited. The majority of the Ukrainian offensive brigades equipped with powerful Western tanks have not yet joined the fight.
Ukraine has been hyping its counteroffensive attack, since last year. Although the attack was intended for spring, it was moved to the summer after Ukraine blamed the delay on a lack of weapons.
The West has been urged to deliver progressively heavier weapons, including tanks, drones, and fighter planes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters last week that the Ukrainian "counteroffensive" in the special military operation zone has begun and that Kiev is resorting to its strategic reserves.
"Firstly, it can be stated with absolute certainty that the counteroffensive has begun and this is proved by the use of strategic reserves," Putin said.
Meanwhile, Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday that Ukraine's counteroffensive would not bring any good to Kiev, the United States, or NATO.
In an interview he gave to George Galloway, Hersh explained how "this [counteroffensive] isn't going to be good for Ukraine, it's not going to be good for NATO, it's certainly not going to be good for the Biden administration."
The journalist explained that the Ukrainian army is comprised of "so many disparate groups," comparable to 15 different dance teams that suddenly are forced to organize a routine together after practicing alone for a very long.
