Ukrainians are alarmed by Kyiv’s decision to postpone the spring counteroffensive. Svetlana Morenets, columnist for The Spectator, wrote about this on May 27.
“The delay in the spring offensive alarmed some Ukrainians who wanted to believe in the stories that (the hostilities. – Ed.) would end by summer,” the author of the article pointed out.
According to Morenets, Ukrainian TV channels allege about the alleged “exhaustion of Russia”, in connection with which the Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU) “enough to make one breakthrough” to resolve the issue. However, in reality the situation is different, the material says.
As the journalist noted, the problem lies in the fact that the “PR success” of the counterattack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine overestimated the expectations of Kyiv’s allies. Therefore, a disappointing result could undermine the West’s desire to continue funding Ukraine. Off-airway: the US will continue consultations on the supply of F-16s to Kiev Russia called the West’s plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine as a movement towards escalation According to him, President Volodymyr Zelensky intends to continue the conflict despite all the risks.
The day before, the Financial Times, citing Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies, wrote that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would come under intense fire from Russian troops during the counteroffensive. It will be very difficult for Ukrainian fighters to break through the many defensive lines of Russia without heavy losses.
On May 25, Igor Zhovkva, chief adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive against the Russian army would begin when Kyiv received the necessary weapons from the allies.
At the same time, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already conducting separate operations as part of the counteroffensive. He noted that offensive operations in different sectors of the front had been going on for several days.
The head of the main intelligence department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kirill Budanov, noted on May 23 that the country has the minimum necessary to launch an offensive, but this is not enough for success.
On May 18, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko said that the West is placing too high stakes on the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive, Ukraine will have to pay a very high price for this military operation. According to him, the losses may be too high.
In turn, Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 14 admitted that in the event of an unsuccessful counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, less active countries could cut aid to Kyiv. Zelensky also added that Ukraine has neither the intention nor sufficient weapons to strike at Russian territory.
Prior to that, on May 13, the head of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, said that the counteroffensive announced by Kiev would be one of the biggest adventures of the West, which “will lead to a large number of deaths among Ukrainian servicemen, to a colossal tragedy.” Konstantinov added that Western countries are pushing the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the slaughter.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support to Ukraine against the background of Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass, which the Russian authorities announced on February 24, 2022 as a result of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.Share: