Ukraine Counter-Offensive is on Its Way

 Washington Post

 

KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military has launched a long-anticipated counterattack against occupying Russian forces, opening a crucial phase in the war to restore Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and preserve Western support in its fight against Moscow. Ukrainian troops on Wednesday night intensified their attacks on the front line in the country’s southeast, according to multiple individuals in the country’s armed forces, in a significant push toward Russian-occupied territory. Four members of the military, including officers, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the battlefield developments.

Here’s what to know

The Ukrainian troops include specialized attack units armed with Western weapons and trained in NATO tactics.

Russian military bloggers also reported heavy fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region, a part of the front line that has long been seen as a likely location of the new Ukrainian campaign. By cutting south through the flat fields of Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv’s forces could aim to sever the so-called land bridge between mainland Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula, cutting off crucial Russian supply lines.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited parts of the southern region of Kherson on Thursday, touring disaster-hit areas and speaking with evacuated people after damage to the Kakhovka dam caused devastating floods and left many homeless.

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Russian army veteran says Ukraine’s counteroffensive is underway

 

By Francesca Ebel

Igor Strelkov, a senior army veteran and former officer of Russia’s security service, said Thursday that it was clear Ukraine’s counteroffensive had begun. Strelkov played a key role in Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and later the war in Donbas.

“Perhaps, we can now reliably say that the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began 5-6 days ago,” wrote Strelkov on Telegram, providing analysis of troop movements at different hot spots along the front line. 

Counteroffensive waged against the backdrop of floods and fortifications

  

By Samantha Schmidt

The counteroffensive is intensifying as a crisis builds in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, where a breach of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant Tuesday sent water rushing over the banks of the Dnieper River and into dozens of residential communities in both Ukrainian and Russian-controlled territories. The vast flooding has also redrawn the battlefield in that part of the southern front.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, fierce obstacles will stand in Ukraine’s way. Russian forces have spent months fortifying the area with mines and trenches. A member of one brigade taking part in the offensive in the southeast described “continuous heavy fighting.”

“It is very difficult on the field,” he said Thursday morning. “Our artillery and aviation are working, but the Russians are working, as well. It is difficult for us and for them. The armed forces are advancing. But not as fast as we wanted.”

The offensive is expected to unfold over the course of months, and it will serve as a pivotal test of a U.S.-led strategy to prepare Ukrainian forces with the most advanced warfare tactics.

KEY UPDATE

 

‘Small counteroffensive activities’ east of Zaporizhzhia, official says

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By Samantha Schmidt

Ukrainian officials have said repeatedly in recent days that they would not make an official announcement that the counteroffensive had begun and that no single action would mark its start.

 

Analysis: Ukraine’s counteroffensive won’t be an easy retread of last year’s wins

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By Adam Taylor

A Ukrainian tank fires in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with Russian forces in Ukraine, on June 7, 2023. (Iryna Rybakova/AP)

Ultimately, the wins of last year’s counteroffensives were easy to spot. After Ukraine stealthily maneuvered its forces to the Kharkiv region in September, they were able to displace invading Russian forces who had been expecting the counteroffensive to begin hundreds of miles south in the Kherson region. The Russians were flummoxed. In the resulting strategic disarray, Moscow’s forces were soon also forced to retreat in the south, with Ukraine ultimately liberating the city of Kherson and the surrounding area in November.