FLASH
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The chairman of the US Army's Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said this week that it is still too early to assess the success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, although he added that it has achieved some significant successes recently. The US general's comments come as Ukrainian forces believe they have broken the strongest line of Russian defense on the southern front and will now be able to advance more quickly. Kiev launched a counteroffensive in June, but well-prepared Russian defensive lines and their minefields have slowed Ukrainian forces' advance towards the Sea of Azov in the south.
Ukrainian forces said this week that they raised the national flag in the settlement of Robotyne in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.
Robotyne is about 100 km from Berdiansk, a port on the shores of the Sea of Azov, and 85 km from the strategic city of Melitopol. Both have been under the control of Russian forces since the beginning of the Russian aggression in February last year.
The commander of the Ukrainian "Skala" Battalion, who uses the name of the military group he leads as a pseudonym, explains that from the whole of Robotyni, there are only two houses left that are still in the area controlled by Russian forces.
"We are fighting for those two houses. Then there will be complete control in the southern part of Robotyne", says the Ukrainian commander "Skala".
The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, General Mark Milley also says that Ukrainian forces have recently achieved success on the front line in the south of the country. But, during an interview with the Jordanian television 'Almamlaka' this week, General Milley clarified that as they predicted, the Ukrainian counter-offensive will take a long time and unfortunately will have serious consequences for the Ukrainian forces as well.
"It is an offensive that has been going on for about eight weeks. It's very bloody, slow, with huge losses. Plans to expel two or three hundred thousand Russian troops will be very difficult and challenging," says General Milley.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June, but well-prepared Russian defensive lines and their minefields have slowed the advance of Ukrainian forces toward the Sea of Azov in the south.
"Our goal is to reach the Sea of Azov. I do not want my soldiers to think that it is already time to rest. They know that we are continuing to liberate all our territories", says the Ukrainian commander who uses the nickname "Skala", the same name as the military battalion he leads.
"The Ukrainians have a significant amount of fighting power left. I think it's honestly too early to say whether the offensive was a success or a failure. Clearly, there has been partial success to date. The speed at which the offensive is proceeding is slower than the planners thought," says US General Mark Milley.
The four-star general of the American army also clarified that the Ukrainian forces are training intensively in different parts of Europe and in the not too distant future they are expected to receive the first F-16 fighter jets, manufactured by the United States.
The first F-16 planes, according to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy, Kiev is expected to receive from at least two European countries. /VOA
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