FLASH
Shkruar nga Philip Fabian
An explosive and bitter analysis by the American secret services!
According to a report by the Washington Post, they believe that Ukraine's counteroffensive will fail. Specifically, they predict that the Ukrainian army will not even be able to reach the important city of Melitopol in the southeast.
The city is of crucial importance: it is considered the gateway to Crimea and is an important transport hub for the Russian military's supply routes between the peninsula and other illegally occupied areas in eastern Ukraine.
In other words, if this prediction turns out to be correct, it means that Kiev has clearly missed the main goal of cutting off Russia's land bridge with Crimea.
The current situation is this: Ukrainian armed forces are pushing towards Melitopol from the city of Robotyne, more than 80 kilometers away. But they will stay a few kilometers away from the city, US officials told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity.
The reason for this grim assessment: Russia's brutal ability to defend occupied territories with a phalanx of minefields and trenches, writes the Washington Post, citing people familiar with the process.
Is Ukraine using the wrong strategy?
Expectations for the counteroffensive launched in June are very high: The hope was to repeat the overwhelming success of last autumn's advance in the Kharkiv region.
But in the first week of fighting, Ukraine suffered heavy casualties against well-prepared Russian defenses - despite Western weaponry, the use of American and German tanks and special mine clearance vehicles.
American, British and Ukrainian forces had taken such losses into account. But they assumed Kiev would accept the losses as a cost of breaching Russia's main defense line, US and Western officials said.
Megjithatë, burimet i thanë ‘Washington Post’ se Ukraina vendosi të kufizojë viktimat në fushën e betejës dhe të kalojë në një taktikë të mbështetjes në njësi më të vogla për të përparuar në zona të ndryshme të vijës së frontit. Kjo bëri që Ukraina të realizonte disa suksese në rritje gjatë verës.
Kush do e mbajë fajin për dështimin?
Ka të ngjarë që të ketë shumë akuza të ndërsjella mes Kievit dhe kryeqyteteve perëndimore: Pse një sulm i tillë, i mbështetur nga armë perëndimore me vlerë miliarda dollarë, është kaq larg synimeve të tij?
Telashe do ketë edhe brenda vendeve perëndimore. Perspektivat e zymta të përbashkëta të republikanëve dhe demokratëve në SHBA kanë ndezur një lojë fajësimi pas dyerve të mbyllura.
Some Republicans are reluctant to accept President Biden's request for an additional $20.6 billion in aid to Ukraine, given the offensive's modest results. Other Republicans, though to a lesser extent, have accused the government of not sending more powerful weapons to Ukraine sooner.
However, US officials interviewed by the 'Washington Post' rejected criticism that F-16 fighter jets or long-range missile systems such as ATACMS would have brought a different result. "The problem continues to permeate Russia's main line of defense and there is no evidence that these systems would be a panacea," said a senior government official./ BILD
Lini një Përgjigje