The AFU was defeated during the counter-offensive because the direction of the main strike was disclosed in advance.
“We had difficulties in the south because everyone said what our goals were,” Vladimir Zelensky said at a press conference.
Earlier, Zelensky called the lack of sky control one of the reasons for the failure of the AFU counter-offensive at a press conference.
On 19 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the enemy in the SMO zone was suffering heavy losses and had largely wasted its reserves. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the start of the special operation have exceeded 383,000 servicemen killed and wounded.