For several months, Ukraine prepared a counter-offensive to recapture Russian-occupied areas of the country. But since it was implemented at the beginning of June, the Ukrainian forces have apparently made less progress on the battlefield than they themselves wanted.
Because even though Ukraine has moved forward, it has been slower than expected, says US Defense Chief Mark Milley in an interview with the National Press Club.
– Ukrainian forces have only moved less than a kilometer on some days, says Milley.
READY SPEECH: US Defense Chief Mark Milley. Photo: AFP/NTB Show more
– Will take a long time
He expects that the counter-offensive will take time and that it will cost many lives. He says that, among other things, it has forced Ukrainian forces to advance through minefields and trenches.
– There is a difference between war on paper and real war. In a real war, real people die. There are real people on the front lines and in the vehicles. Real bodies being torn to shreds by explosives, says Milley.
He predicts an offensive lasting several months.
– It will take a very long time, and it will be very, very bloody, says the defense chief.
Ukrainian and Russian authorities have very different truths about the air strike in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Video: AP. Reporter: Bjørge Dahle Johansen / Dagbladet TV Show more
Hard battles
On Saturday, the Ukrainian military reported that the heaviest fighting was taking place in Bakhmut and Marinka in eastern Ukraine, writes CNN.
In Bakhmut, the forces continue to press the enemy on the northern and southern flanks, says Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces’ eastern grouping, according to the American television channel.
General Valery Zaluzhny reported on Friday that the Ukrainian forces continue to advance in eastern and southern Ukraine despite the fact that they lack important resources, the Institute of the Study of War (ISW) think tank wrote in its daily update.
2023-07-02 00:27:45
#bloody
