Developments on the ground coincided with the official announcement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the counterattack and defensive operations had already begun. Will Kyiv succeed in its long-awaited counterattack, as described by Russian President Vladimir Putin?
According to a Russian military expert, the counterattack already started several days ago and proved weak and did not lead to any results, while another Ukrainian believes that all fronts are already burning apart from aiming for the Russian depth, during their statements to “Sky News Arabia”.
Multi-front attack
Watling Kudrakhin, a specialist in international affairs at the Ukrainian National University in Odessa, explained that his country actually launched an attack on several fronts, as a sort of diversionary strategy for the enemy, instead of advancing on field.
Kudrakhin said in his statements to “Sky News Arabia” that the multi-pronged offensive operation had already helped Ukrainian forces to advance on the eastern front in the vicinity of Bakhmut, a distance of about 1,400 meters, prompting Russian forces to withdraw from international lines on this front.
He also referred to the constant Ukrainian pressure on the southern front near Zaporizhia and Kherson, where Kiev forces have launched numerous attacks there over the past few hours using Western armored vehicles and tanks and military forces. use of medium-range missiles. .
Kudrakhin stressed that with the official launch of the counterattack, this will help to accelerate the pace of Western arming of Ukraine, continue the process of pressure on the ground and ensure that the counterattack, which been preparing for months, will not shut down or impact due to the arming process.
Kudrakhin expected the West and Washington to deliver fighter jets to Kyiv soon, for several reasons, including:
Provide air protection for the Ukrainian advance on the ground and ensure that Russia does not launch a surprise attack. The increase in the effectiveness of the Ukrainian Air Force contributes to the protection of the gateway to Eastern Europe. If fighters are available for Kyiv, it will prevent Russia from increasing fortifications in areas it controlled.
Russia accelerates the pace of armament
Along with the Ukrainian President’s announcement of the effective start of the counterattack, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the arsenals and storage bases of the Western Military District and reviewed the preparation of equipment and weapons to be shipped to the area of military operations. .
He urged the Minister of Defense to reduce the time for receiving equipment from companies and prepare it as soon as possible for shipment to units of the Russian Armed Forces.
In light of the movements on the ground, Russian military expert Shatilov Minikaev says that not all Ukrainian attacks have produced any results on the ground other than loss of life and material over the past few hours.
Minikaev added, during his statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that the lack of Ukrainian success so far is due to Russian fortifications on the eastern and southern fronts, in addition to Moscow’s intensification of the targeting of stores of ammunition and assembly areas marches over the past. days, which contributed to the weakness of the counterattack, in addition to shelling. Military airports, as happened at the Mirhorod military airport in central Ukraine.
In light of Ukrainian casualties, the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily summary that its forces succeeded in destroying 4 German-made Leopard tanks and succeeded in eliminating around 300 Ukrainian soldiers during the attack by Ukrainian forces on the axis of Zaporizhia.
Minikaev refers to the statements of the Ukrainian President, in which he refused to set a deadline for the counterattack, saying: “Kiev knows very well that its counterattack will not change the reality and the equation on the ground”.
Zelenskyy had said in the past few hours that his country was ready to launch the long-awaited counterattack to regain Russian-occupied territories, adding: “We firmly believe that we will succeed.”
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