The newspaper writes that secret Pentagon documents leaked to the public say that the Ukrainian Armed Forces cannot launch a counterattack given the number of Western tanks and other weapons available. New York Times.
That is why the US Department of Defense believes that for the successful advance of the Ukrainian army more than 250 tanks are needed. At the same time, it is clear that the Abrams tanks promised by Washington will not hit the battlefield until the end of April (according to various sources, the counterattack is planned during this period).
“The announcement that Abrams tanks may arrive in Ukraine in the fall brings the United States’ most powerful weapon one step closer to the conflict. But even if they come earlier, they still will not have time to reach the battlefield at the beginning of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, ”the publication says.
At the end of February, only 60 tanks of Western production were promised to transfer to Kiev. The other 140 vehicles that the Ukrainian Armed Forces should receive are repaired tanks from the USSR era.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin promised on April 21 that Abrams would be handed over to Germany in the next few weeks. There, Ukrainian soldiers will be able to receive the necessary training.
“We have also accelerated the delivery of M1 Abrams tanks to provide Ukraine more armored vehicles in the coming months,” he said after the Ukraine contact group meeting.
“I am confident that this equipment and the accompanying training will enable Ukrainian forces to be successful on the battlefield,” Austin added.
The NYT announced that as of March 1, the Ukrainian military had less than 10,000 155-millimeter American rounds at its disposal, which “must be finished in a few days”. In the next 12 days, another 30 thousand ammunition reached Ukraine.
change the date
Foreign Policy, citing Ukrainian MP Alexandra Ustinova, claims that Kiev abandoned the idea of launching a counterattack in April and postponed it indefinitely. The reason is the shortage of weapons.
Ustinova said Ukraine hoped to launch an offensive in April, but a lack of weapons delayed the start date indefinitely.
Earlier, Newsweek wrote, citing “leaked” US intelligence documents, that the counterattack was planned for April 30. The United States continues to prepare the Armed Forces of Ukraine for an offensive in the Artemovsk (Bakhmut) region.
Weather
Military expert, Lieutenant Colonel of the People’s Militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic, retired Andrei Marochko believesKiev will not be able to attack in the next two weeks due to adverse weather conditions: neither full-fledged aerial reconnaissance nor the use of heavy armored vehicles is possible anymore.
“As someone who has visited the Donetsk direction, I can say that adverse weather conditions will not allow the enemy to carry out full-scale offensive operations for at least two weeks,” as quoted by RIA Novosti, Marochko.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner PMC, also believes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces delayed the attack due to weather conditions, but “the truth is they will attack.”
“The attack does not begin for obvious reasons: a monstrous bribe. Today in the region, even pickup trucks don’t normally pass through the fields, not to mention the Urals, from heavy equipment to tanks. The soil still needs to dry for ten days, ”Prigozhin’s press service cites his words.
The founder of the PMC urged the fighters to “prepare ten times so that it doesn’t happen again like in 1941.” “When will they come? They will probably make a decision themselves, they don’t inform me about it,” he said.