Kyiv Plan
Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidential office of Ukraine, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) has not yet launched a counterattack, but only tested it. Wrote agency RIA Novosti. “We haven’t launched a counterattack yet,” he said.
According to Podolyak, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are currently conducting attacks, including the destruction of the enemy’s equipment and human military resources. So the Ukrainian military is looking for “where it will be weakest” and is gradually advancing as part of its testing regime.
As Podolyak emphasizes, Ukraine has several goals: “The first is to destroy as many mobilized people as possible. Frankly, I say “as much as possible” to increase the psychological pressure on the Russian military.” The next goal is to move forward. Then, according to Kiev, Ukrainian troops will be able to stand in one place and invite Moscow to “think and speak.”
According to Zelensky’s adviser to the head of the office, the conflict between the parties will not end before 2024. “Let’s wait for the results of our armed forces, which will give us these results, and then we will start planning,” said Podolyak.
not a step
Zelensky announced that he was ready to launch a counterattack on 3 June. At the same time, the leader of the country warned that time is needed to launch an offensive.On June 10, the President of Ukraine confirmed that the country’s forces had already carried out a counterattack. He did not reveal the details and said “everyone will feel it”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces began on June 4. On June 6, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the Ukrainian side has concentrated a large number of personnel and military equipment at different points of the contact line. Ukrainian troops are advancing, including in the Southern Donetsk and Artyomovsk regions. Basically, all forces focused on attacks on the Zaporozhye region of the front.
On the eve of the Deputy Governor of the Zaporozhye region, Evgeny Balitsky said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not take “a single step” in the direction of Zaporozhye.
“Now we have Maly Shcherbak, in principle this is a gray zone, the enemy has not advanced a single step,” he said. According to him, the conflict was fought on the Vremevsky ledge on the border of the Zaporozhye region and on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). He explained the failure of the Ukrainian side with “very serious reinforcement” from Russia.
Human and equipment losses
The day before, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that since June 4, about 7.5 thousand people were killed and injured on the line of contact of the Ukrainian side alone. The assessment was given without taking into account the deaths of the military due to attacks on Russia in the depths of the territory of Ukraine with the help of long-range precision weapons.
President Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with military correspondents on June 13, said that Ukrainian troops suffered heavy losses during the offensive and did not succeed in any direction. Putin cited data that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already lost 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles.
On the eve of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine was planning its losses. According to him, when a major offensive is launched against a “well-prepared defensive line” that includes minefields and tank trenches, casualties are inevitable.
“There was no plan, no one expected zero casualties. The reality is that violent conflicts are taking place. And of course there are casualties on the Ukrainian side as well,” Stoltenberg stressed.