The Ukrainian counteroffensive, a silence that has been noticeable for a week

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Friday June 9 that Ukraine had begun a major offensive against the Russian Army, but also claimed that Ukrainian forces have not achieved their goals despite heavy fighting over the past week.

“We can confidently state that this offensive has started. This is evidenced by the use of the strategic reserves of the Ukrainian army,” Putin told Russian reporters in Sochi on Friday. “Ukrainian troops did not achieve their objectives in any sector,” he concluded.

On this issue, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had said he had discussed tactics and “achievements” with military leaders but had revealed little, a strategy followed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to not announce or give clues about how or when it will carry out its long-awaited counter-offensive to try to retake territory conquered by Russia in the last 16 months. And that it is even accompanied by a video advertising message in which some soldiers make a sign of silence.

“For our soldiers, for all those who are currently involved in particularly tough combat. We see their heroism and we are grateful for every moment of their lives”, he said in Zelensky in a televised speech in the evening, adding that “Ukraine will be free”.

In response to questions from journalists about Putin’s statements regarding the counteroffensive, Zelensky shrugged his shoulders this Saturday and said that Ukraine was carrying out defensive and counteroffensive operations, but would not detail what stage they were at.

Opposing versions of the fighting in southern Ukraine

The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan, says Ukrainian forces this week began offensive operations against Russian forces in at least four areas of the front.

As well as that the counteroffensive would be taking place in the west of the Donetsk region, partially occupied by Moscow since 2014; so the fighting is especially strong near the border between Donetsk and Zaporizhia, where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located.

The institute specifies that an anonymous Russian source suggested that the Ukrainian forces made progressive advances during the ground attacks in western Zaporizhia, during the night of June 8 and during the course of June 9.

And kyiv officials said Friday that Ukrainian forces had advanced 1.2 km in continuous offensive operations near Bakhmut.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its troops repelled limited and localized Ukrainian ground attacks in the area of ​​Kreminna, a small town near the city of Severodonetsk, in the strategic and conflict-ridden Lugansk region.

Despite the fact that Vladimir Putin officially acknowledged that the Ukrainian counter-offensive started recently and pointed out for the first time in a long time that the Ukrainian forces still have offensive potential, Putin explained that these “did not reach their objectives in any combat area” after committing “strategic reserves.”

According to the Russian president, Ukraine suffered significant losses due to “Russian successes reflected in better-capable military equipment and personnel.” A message seconded by the Russian media, who have claimed that the Ukrainian counter-offensive failed after Russian forces damaged Western-supplied Ukrainian military equipment.

Responding to this comment, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar on her Telegram on Friday acknowledged that Ukraine’s military expects to suffer losses in counteroffensive operations. However, she added that Russian sources are greatly amplifying pictures of Ukrainian equipment losses for reporting purposes.

Western military equipment, proof of the Ukrainian counteroffensive

Analysts consulted by Reuters believe that the strength of the Ukrainian counteroffensive consists of the training and equipment that the troops have received from the West in recent months.

Just this Friday, the United States, Ukraine’s main military ally, announced an additional $2.1 billion in security assistance, including air defense and ammunition to kyiv.

In the same vein, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is visiting Kiev on Saturday, said Canada would join a multinational effort to train Ukrainian fighter pilots and announced $375 million in military aid for Kiev. .

According to the figures that the Institute for the Study of War, In total, the Ukrainian Army has 12 brigades with 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers ready for the counteroffensive. Nine of these brigades have been armed and trained by the West.

The training was based on the use of sophisticated American Abrams, German Leopard 2 and British Challenger tanks. All these vehicles have special armor and are designed for large ground offensives.

Russian pro-Putin bloggers reported sighting Western-made armored tanks on Thursday June 8 and Friday June 9 in intense battles taking place between Moscow and Kiev on the Zaporizhzhia front near the town of Orikhiv, a essential front because it surrounds the land bridge between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, considered one of the most desired targets of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Finally, Ben Barry, a senior ground warfare fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that if Russian bloggers’ reports of German-made Leopard tanks and American armored vehicles near Tokmak, south of Orikhiv, are confirmed, the first evidence that the counteroffensive has started would be provided.

With Reuters and local media