West encourages Kiev to switch from offense to defense in Oct: Reports
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A Western defense official assesses that the landscape in Ukraine will become excessively muddy, posing challenges for the swift movement of heavy armored equipment.
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Ukrainian soldiers inspect a damaged military vehicle after fighting in Kharkov, Ukraine, on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022 (AP)
Ukraine is being encouraged by its Western allies to shift from attempting offensive operations to holding its ground in the second half of October, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The defense official cited the deteriorating weather conditions as a pretext for changing the strategy. The landscape will become excessively muddy, posing challenges for the swift movement of heavy armored equipment, the official noted. Therefore, the Ukrainian forces should prioritize safeguarding their infrastructure from Russian drones and missiles throughout the winter period rather than conducting offenses that could leave them vulnerable.
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It was reported yesterday that almost nine out of every ten Ukrainian draftees who enlisted in the army a year ago have either been killed or injured in combat.
Lt. Colonel Vitaly Berezhny, who is currently serving as the acting head of the territorial center for recruitment and social support, made this admission during a Poltava City Council meeting.
Sounding the alarm, Berezhny told meeting participants that "out of each 100 individuals who joined the units last Fall, only 10-20 remain, the rest are dead, wounded or disabled." Going from this statistic, he declared that the military was in urgent need of reinforcements.
He acknowledged that local authorities are facing significant challenges in their conscription efforts, having only achieved 13 percent of the mobilization plan.
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