Kiev’s counter-offensive – Zelenskyj: “Difficult battle, but victory is coming!”

According to Kiev, Ukraine has recaptured six villages in the Donetsk region and one in the Zaporizhia region: “Over 90 square kilometers in total.” Near the southern port city of Berdyansk, an area of ​​a total of three square kilometers has been liberated.

“We believe in victory”
These are the first psychologically significant “successes” announced by Zelenskyj on Tuesday. He belligerently promises: “We believe in the victory that will come!”

Rain stops heavy military equipment
Zelenskyj also makes it clear that neither missiles nor the flooding caused by the destruction of the dam in the disputed Kherson region will deter Ukraine from its major offensive. Reports say most of it hasn’t started yet. Selenskyj speaks of a “tough struggle” – also because the rain is currently softening the ground. Heavy military equipment hardly makes any progress in this way.

After days of offensive action by the Ukrainian army, the initiative clearly lies with Kiev, while Moscow and the Russian army go on the defensive. However, according to experts, Kiev’s troops have not yet advanced to the main line of defense of the Russians. With tactical operations in the mining area, Ukraine is trying to advance to the well-secured Russian lines and find weak points to break through there.

American experts: ‘There should be no question of a breakthrough’
Experts from the American Institute for War Studies (ISW) have determined that there has been no breakthrough so far. The Ukrainian advance would also be complicated by Russian dominance in the skies. According to the ISW analysis, the Ukrainians suffered losses against some “of the best prepared Russian forces”. “Russian army remains dangerous and Ukrainian troops face a hard battle.” Yet the front – according to Russian information 815 kilometers long – is not protected to the same extent everywhere.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied Ukraine’s successes. Ukraine had not been successful in any area, its troops had suffered heavy casualties, he said on Tuesday. He estimates that the Ukrainian army lost up to 30 percent of the fighting vehicles supplied by the West during the offensive.

Putin: “Ukraine losses 10 times higher than on Russian side”
Ukraine’s losses are ten times higher than on the Russian side. According to him, Russian units lost 50 tanks in the fighting, while the Ukrainians lost more than 160. Putin said there was no need for martial law or remobilization in Russia. The Russian defense ministry said Ukrainian attacks near Bakhmut had been successfully repelled.

Kiev: “Much more Western main battle tanks needed”
However, Ukraine has made it clear that it needs further support and, above all, supplies, even despite initial losses, for example in the case of the tanks supplied by Germany, to be successful. “The Ukrainian army urgently needs much more Western main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other armored vehicles,” Kiev’s deputy foreign minister Andriy Melnyker told the “Tagesspiegel”.

NATO chief: “Ukrainian offensive is still in its infancy”
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hopes the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive will force Russia to the negotiating table. “The more land Ukrainians win, the more likely it is that Putin will understand that he needs to sit down at the negotiating table,” Stoltenberg told CNN on Tuesday. However, the Ukrainian offensive is still in its “early days” and is “difficult”.