Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar stated that the "biggest blow" in Kyiv's counteroffensive campaign against Russian forces has yet to come, but admitted the operation is difficult as Moscow is throwing all it can into the battle to prevent Ukraine from pressing forward. The Ukrainian military announced small victories and eight villages liberated so far, along with some 113 square km (70 sq miles) of territory. The biggest blow is yet to come, and the ongoing operation has several objectives, and the military is fulfilling these tasks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian counteroffensive did not have any meaningful success, but some Russian military bloggers say Kyiv has made small gains at the expense of huge troop and equipment losses. The Reuters news agency confirmed that Ukrainian forces have advanced in the early phase of the counteroffensive. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited sources on Sunday as saying that Ukrainian forces may be temporarily pausing counteroffensive operations to "reevaluate their tactics for future operations." The main counteroffensive campaign had yet to start.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the military offensive as a "situation of pressure," but in which Ukrainian forces had not let the pressure slip from being focused on Russian forces. Officials from two NATO member states said Moscow was redeploying some of its forces as it seeks to predict where Ukraine will strike. The United Kingdom and Estonian intelligence officials said that Russia had been moving some forces east along the front line from areas south of the Dnipro River flooded by the destruction of the huge Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on June 6. Overall, the Ukrainian military said its counteroffensive is going according to plan, but admitted to a "difficult situation" on the front.
0 Comments