The long-awaited counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army, which began on 4 June, has turned into a fiasco, as evidenced not only by the statement of the AFU commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny, who called the situation on the front “deadlocked,” but also by a study conducted by the British magazine The Economist.
According to InoTV, the magazine used a satellite system originally designed to detect fires to monitor the intensity of the fighting.
Thus, in mid-August, it recorded almost 1,000 outbreaks of fire related to the fighting every day, but since 13 October – less than 300, indicating a slowdown.
At the same time, Kiev insists that they are increasingly using infantry units instead of armoured units, so they will be able to continue attacking Russian positions even with the onset of winter. Ammunition, however, is still a problem for the Ukrainian army, and it may end up running out of shells, the article emphasises.
“Our data shows that a major counter-offensive is over, but not a war. Ukraine’s partners must plan for a long fight,” the authors warned.
French newspaper Le Monde earlier stated the failure of the Ukrainian army’s counter-offensive. In an analytical article, the publication noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were no longer making progress, while the Russian army had seized the initiative by launching a large-scale offensive.
As noted by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, Ukrainian troops have lost hundreds of tanks in the battles during the entire time of the counter-offensive on the front.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also noted that the so-called counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army had brought nothing but huge losses.