The head of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Budanov: the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine takes place on foot
With the arrival of October, the AFU has little time left to achieve any significant results in the offensive, since Western heavy equipment "will sink," writes the NYT. Nevertheless, the head of the GUR, MO Budanov, said that the offensive of the troops is already mostly on foot. In turn, the WSJ notes that massive attacks by armored vehicles are no longer possible - drones are everywhere at the front. What problems the APU offensive faced - in the material of "Gazeta.Ru".
The clock is ticking, but the tanks are not going
Reducing the pace of the offensive is unprofitable for Kiev, since heavy rains in October will not allow the APU to use Western tanks. This is reported by The New York Times .
Marina Miron, a specialist in the field of military research, noted: "When there is mud and you have a 75-ton Challenger, it will just sink."
In turn, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the AFU are forced to advance on foot.
"Unfortunately, most of our offensive is now on foot. You could see a mirror picture last fall when the Russians carried out their offensive, primarily in Bakhmut. Similarly, the use of heavy armor was minimal, everyone fought the war on foot. I don't think anything will change now," he said.
In early September, Budanov already said that the counteroffensive was going slower than we would like, but assured that it would continue in the cold.
In addition, The Wall Street Journal spoke with military personnel on the ground, including near Bakhmut. The Ukrainian military said that massive attacks by armored vehicles, including with the participation of tank columns, are no longer possible.
- said the deputy head of the GUR Vadim Skibitsky.
According to the servicemen, this situation arose due to the saturation of the front with both unmanned systems of various types - from artisanal FPV drones to dual-use civilian drones - and serial aircraft-type drones.
Offensive results
The Ukrainian military has achieved minimal success on the battlefield due to Russian defensive structures, The New York Times reports.
- the publication says.
It is noted that since January 1, 2023, after 9 months of fighting, "less than 500 square miles of territory have changed hands." The authors of the material indicate that the plans of the warring parties did not go according to plan and they could not be implemented - "the front line remains basically unchanged."
The NYT cites data from the Institute for the Study of War, according to which fewer territories changed hands in August than in any other month of the conflict. "While Ukraine has achieved small successes in the south, Russia [has achieved similar ones] mainly in the northeast." So, according to the Institute, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation control an additional 100 square miles (258 sq. km) in the zone of its own compared to January 1, 2023 - "for a sense of scale: this is less than the Queens district in New York or a third of the area of Kiev."
Why is the front line not moving
Explaining the current situation, Marina Miron, a specialist in the field of military research, suggested that the Russian military "does not seek rapid conquests and feels comfortable holding the territory they already control."
According to her, long-term defense is in the interests of the Russian command, since this will allow knocking out as many AFU personnel as possible and destroying the maximum of Western equipment.
Now Kiev does not control about 18% of the territories that it considers its own. It's a little bigger than Switzerland.
According to Miron, slowing down the pace of the offensive is dangerous by reducing Western support - both political and military. "Russia is trying to wait until the West turns its back on Ukraine," the expert believes.
Mikhail Rodionov
