Ukraine's strategy partly consists in transferring forces and striking at the most important targets, the newspaper writes
WASHINGTON, June 7. /tass/. Representatives of the US administration believe that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) launched a counteroffensive on Monday, their main goal is to cut the land corridor that connects Crimea and other territories under Russian control. This was reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday.
According to the foreign policy columnist of the publication David Ignace, who outlined the position of American officials, the Ukrainian military on Monday began moving south in several directions. Ukraine's strategy partly consists in transferring forces and striking at the most important targets, the newspaper writes.
Officials were "encouraged" by the information about the first advances of the Ukrainian military, which, according to Washington, turned out to be more significant than expected, the newspaper notes. According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian troops can continue their offensive on Mariupol, Melitopol and other places along the coast of the Sea of Azov, in order to eventually, according to this view, break the land corridor to the Crimea.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that in three days Russian troops repelled all attempts of the "long-promised offensive" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, while the losses of the Ukrainian side amounted to 3,715 people, 259 armored vehicles, 134 vehicles, 48 field artillery guns, as well as 60 aircraft.
The publication also notes that while the American administration does not know exactly who is behind the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP - Russia or Ukraine. The publication says that the negative consequences of this incident will be for both sides of the conflict: it will be more difficult for Ukraine to move south from the Dnieper River, and it will be more difficult for the Russian military to maneuver and defend territories.
