The Ukrainian counter-offensive has begun, or so the United States maintains. It seems that Ukraine is not going to confirm or announce it, but since last Sunday the 4th, the Ukrainian forces have left behind defensive positions to advance in at least three sectors of the front, as published by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Ukrainian president himself, Volodimir Zelenski, has praised this Thursday the “good results” of the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that was the protagonist of the longest battle of the war that Russia has claimed a few weeks ago. ISW claims that Ukrainian forces have shifted from defensive to offensive operations in the Bakhmut sector and are making advances of between 200 meters and almost two kilometers on the flanks of the city.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Friday that the situation at the front was tense and that the intense fighting was concentrated in the Donetsk region, in the east.
“The situation is tense in all areas of the front,” Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app. “The enemy continues to concentrate its main efforts in the Liman, Bakhmut, Avdiivsky and Mariinka directions, intense fighting continues.”
Ultimately, the Ukrainian counter-offensive is expected to involve thousands of Western-trained and equipped Ukrainian troops. Russia, which has had months to prepare its defensive lines, says it has withstood attacks since the start of the week. kyiv has so far said that its main effort has yet to start.
Russian bloggers published reactions on Friday about intense battles on the Zaporizhia front, near the city of Orikhiv, around the midpoint of the “land bridge” linking Russia to the Crimean peninsula, considered one of the main potential targets of Ukraine. In addition, according to open sources, Ukrainian German-made Leopard 2 tanks have been seen in Zaporizhia for the first time during the offensive near Orikhiv.
limited efforts
According to ISW, “Ukrainian forces carried out a limited but still significant attack in western Zaporizhia Oblast on the night of June 7-8. Russian forces apparently defended against this attack in a doctrinally sound manner and reportedly retook their initial positions on June 8.” In these attacks, kyiv would have lost several tanks and other vehicles provided by the West, especially this Thursday, June 8, however, adds ISW, “these losses are inevitable in any military enterprise.”
In the southern district, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has responded to the Ukrainian offensive with “an unusual degree of coherence” that has helped Russian forces repel attacks and recapture lost positions.
Ukraine has refused to comment on the long-awaited counteroffensive, accusing Russia of spreading lies about it. The ‘New York Times’ has quoted three senior US officials as saying that the counter-offensive was underway.
A spokesman for Russia’s Vostok group of forces said 13 Ukrainian main battle tanks were destroyed in battles in the Zaporizhia region and eight in the Donetsk region.
For the moment, Ukraine seems to have started the counteroffensive but in a limited way and without putting all the meat on the grill in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions.
