Anro expert: The West intends to focus on helping Ukraine with a counteroffensiveBRUSSELS, May 22 – RIA Novosti.
It is difficult for Western countries supporting the Kiev regime to accept the loss of Artemovsk, and after that they intend to concentrate on providing Ukraine with support in the counteroffensive, a European expert, a former high-ranking officer of NATO nuclear artillery Pierre Henrault, told RIA Novosti.
Last Saturday, the founder of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that Russian forces had fully established control over Artemovsk by noon on May 20. On the night of May 21, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the complete liberation of Artemovsk.
"It is difficult for Western countries supporting Ukraine to accept the loss of Bakhmut (Russian name Artemovsk – ed.), but they have been preparing for this for some time. Everyone understood that this was inevitable. The result is that the offensive announced by Kiev is becoming more urgent politically than ever," the expert stressed.
According to Anro, Vladimir Zelensky for months held on to promises to launch a counteroffensive, asking the West for more weapons. After the loss of Artemovsk, the beginning of offensive operations is the best way for Kiev and NATO allies to start with a clean slate, he added. The expert expressed the opinion that Zelensky is in a difficult situation. The Ukrainian army is not ready for a counteroffensive and urgently needs ammunition, but any points of concentration of weapons are attacked by Russian troops. This is starting to raise some questions about the successful start of the offensive, explained Anro.
"The Western press is slowly coming out of the position of denial that they adopted, stating that the fighting was carried out to destroy Russian offensive forces and that Russia suffered terribly large losses ... The reality appears in rare articles here and there," the expert said.
The nine brigades formed with the help of NATO for the spring offensive of Ukraine number up to three thousand military personnel, which is much less than required by the standards of the alliance. At the same time, Ukraine has serious financial problems, despite the support of the West, while the Russian economy remains unaffected by sanctions, Anro notes. In addition, according to him, many high-ranking military personnel, including the chief of the Polish General Staff Raimund Andrzejczak and American General Christopher Cavoli, recognized Russia's ability to continue to conduct military operations without significant losses. At the same time, from 40% to 60% of Ukrainian soldiers who were trained in France in 2022 no longer communicate with their instructors and are considered dead, the expert added.
Russia has previously sent a note to NATO countries because of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia, that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, "including not only the supply of weapons, but also training... on the territory of Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and other countries."