The Russian army was in deep shock. Press about the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Ukrainian counteroffensive is taking place in conditions of informed silence. What did foreign journalists write about it?

After the announcement of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the south of the country, there was very little information about the operation – the Ukrainian authorities urged “not to create chaos”, because such events love silence. The counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was expected for a long time, including in the West. Correspondent.net telling what the world press is writing about it.

Moscow has no good options left

Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany

Without Kherson, Russia would lose control over Crimea’s water supply. Without Kherson, there is no end-to-end land corridor from Luhansk to Sevastopol. Without Kherson, the Russian offensive against free Odessa would also be very difficult…

What [Путин] Want to do to avoid this embarrassment? Decide on some kind of hopeless, dangerous escalation for Russia itself – for example, on the use of nuclear or chemical weapons? Or quickly – and unilaterally – declare a ceasefire in the vague hope that it will be taken as a sign of strength? In reality, Putin has no “good options” left.

Ukraine is sending a signal that there is a counter-offensive

Economist, Britain

Recently, Russia tightened its grip on the Kherson region: it introduced a Russian school curriculum there, offered residents Russian passports – and held a fake referendum aimed at annexing the territory.

The goal of the Ukrainian leadership is to undermine all these attempts. Ukraine is also eager to demonstrate both to its Western partners, which provide most of the arms and ammunition, and to its own public, that the war can be won – and that Russian troops can indeed be pushed back and pushed back. The coming days and weeks will be the decisive test for this strategy.

Ukrainians are wonderful

New York Times, USA

General Stephen Twitty, formerly of the US Army and now a fellow at the Center for European Political Analysis, observed that “when someone launches a counteroffensive, they usually want the element of surprise, so it’s quite interesting that Ukrainians announced theirs.”

He admitted that this strategy could be designed to relieve pressure from the east by forcing Russia to redirect some forces to the south.

“The amazing thing is that with what they had, and with the training that the US provided, they were actually able to strike in Crimea and abroad. good luck,” said General Twitty.

Putin: a downward spiral

De Standaard, Belgium

The pompous and extravagant idea of ​​”Great Russia” now seems to be turning more and more against Putin. Perhaps he hoped that the imperial idea would give him a new energy boost in Russia. But an empire that suffers defeats and loses thousands of soldiers killed and wounded, first of all, creates a cocktail of frustration, apathy and counter-force.

In this defeatist environment, it will not be easy for Putin to announce a mass mobilization and turn his country’s numerical superiority into a major victory. Everything points rather favorably to the fact that the accumulated frustration will lead to huge internal tensions that Putin can hardly control.

The Russian army was in shock

DW, Germany

According to British military analyst Justin Crump, “the situation at the front is still obscured by the smoke of fighting,” but “the scale of what we see now is greater than what we have seen before.” “It seems that in terms of scale, this offensive operation really matches what the Ukrainian president wants,” he said…

Bradley Bowman of the American think tank Foundation for Democracies (FDD) recalled that Ukraine received $13.5 billion in military aid from the US alone. Now Kyiv is under pressure, because it is expected that the Ukrainian army “will not only hold the defense, but also go on the offensive,” he said.

“The Ukrainians used the weapons they received for their intended purpose, and in some places – I don’t want to exaggerate – they started to go on the counter-offensive: in the south, in the Kherson region,” argues Bowman. “And it’s a given that the Russians have regrouped and sent their troops there again.” ..

Burkhard Meissner, an analyst at the German Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies and a professor at the University of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg, also draws attention to Russia’s problems in recruiting military personnel. According to him, after six months of war, the Russian army was “in a state of deep shock”, “but at the same time it was not defeated.”

… losses of military equipment among the Russians, in particular, tanks, according to him, “are calculated in four-digit numbers.”

The Russian army was never able to take control of the airspace, “although it was expected to do so on the second day of the war,” Meisner continued. “The fact that this army did not conquer Ukraine either with lightning speed or within six months, although many considered it capable of doing so, and the very fact that it failed, undermines the confidence of the army it in itself,” the German. expert summary..

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