Pessimistic Western views of the Ukrainian counter-offensive

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 27 Jul 2023 by Alex Teddy
Secret German government documents were leaked to the media on July 26. They make depressing reading from a Ukrainian perspective. They gloomily assess that the counter-offensive is making minimal progress but at a high cost and with little chance of a breakthrough. The German military believes that Ukraine is not using the Western training that it was given. It said Ukraine promoted people with combat experience rather than good training. The secret document said the Ukrainians were making injudicious and costly decisions.  Extremely dense Russian minefields appear to be almost impenetrable to Western supplied tanks. Ukraine tends to send Soviet-era tanks forward first to clear the minefields. But even after that there are some undetected mines. Ukraine is constantly having to repair damaged tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. On July 24 the Institute for the Study of War said that Ukraine has broken through some Russian frontlines. But Russia has multiple echelons of defense. The US noted that Ukraine has retaken half the land Russia seized in 2022. But that is taking into account all the Ukraine counter-offensive since April 2022. In some cases Russia simply withdrew when supply lines were overstretched. The report has said that the counter-offensive ''will not be fast and easy'' for Ukraine. The report said Ukraine lacks air superiority and air defense. Ukraine is also short of munitions. Ukraine is making gains but cannot exploit them before Russia brings in reinforcements and builds more defenses. The Russians sometimes withdraw and leave booby traps for the Ukrainians. This makes Ukraine very cautious about advancing.  The September 2022 Ukrainian counter-offe...

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