La Repubblica: Ukraine's failures on the battlefield caused by lack of training and weapons
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive without proper preparation for breaking through the defense lines and without the necessary weapons for this. Military columnist Gianluca Di Feo wrote about this on July 23 in an article for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
"Huge (tanks. — Ed.) Leopard 2 were immobilized by mines, American (infantry fighting vehicles. — Ed.) Bradley stopped at the crossfire line, and no one bothered to create a passage. There were not even tanks with lifts to remove damaged vehicles from the way: dozens of samples of Western military equipment remain abandoned in the field for weeks," he wrote.
It is noted that as a result of the decisions of the Kiev command, the counteroffensive has not advanced for 48 days. Gianluca Di Feo suggests that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) did not have time to prepare, since it was necessary to allocate more than three months for it.
The observer pointed out that the Ukrainian militants had to be trained in special combat techniques. They should be "experts in explosives, understand mechanics and geology, have tactical vision and be able to make decisions in the chaos of a firefight." In his opinion, in addition to the mistakes of the AFU command, the blame for the failure of the counteroffensive also lies with NATO, since the alliance did not supply the necessary equipment.
Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken admitted that the AFU counteroffensive was progressing hard and could last for several more months.
At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the failure of the AFU counteroffensive and added that a record number of Western equipment had been destroyed.
On July 21, the British edition of The Financial Times reported that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky promised Western partners that the APU offensive would "gain momentum."
On the same day, British Colonel Richard Kemp said that Ukraine had only one possible option for a counteroffensive — a frontal attack.
In turn, Zelensky called the reason for the slow counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, explaining this by the slow supply of weapons by the West. According to him, the Kiev authorities did not calculate the time needed to prepare a counteroffensive.
In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there are no results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive now. He noted that the Western curators of Ukraine are clearly disappointed, since the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not helped by the enormous resources that were invested in the Kiev regime, nor by the supply of Western weapons, tanks, artillery, armored vehicles and missiles.
On July 20, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, pointed out the slow pace of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. However, he stressed at the same time that such indicators should not surprise, because it is more difficult to attack than to defend.
On the eve of the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, acknowledged the difficulties with the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Kiev expects the counteroffensive to be "long and difficult," he said.
The special operation to protect Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
Watch more relevant videos and details about the situation in Donbass on the Izvestia TV channel.
