Asia Times: Armed Forces of Ukraine did not achieve their goals in a failed offensive

Ukraine failed to achieve its goals during its counter-offensive. After the failure, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) need to try to stabilize the front and stop the intense fighting, columnist Stephen Brien said for the publication Asia Times.

“The general situation in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions shows that Ukraine will not be able to achieve the stated goals,” – the article says.

Brian drew attention to the serious losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in armored vehicles and composition. According to him, many of the best Ukrainian units were destroyed. The observer called an attempt to stabilize the front the only way out for Zelensky. This, he believes, will buy time and mobilize new forces.

The Asia Times noted that the US is taking big risks with both decisions to supply Kyiv with cluster munitions and anti-tank shells with depleted uranium. Another risk Brian saw was the use of American intelligence resources to attack Russia. This, as the journalist explained, could lead to even more conflict in Europe.

“If the escalation from Washington continues, it is difficult to predict what will happen in the coming weeks,” he concluded.

Recall that on June 4, a counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began in the South Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Artemivsk directions, which had been talked about for so long in Kyiv. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, said that there were no results from the attempts of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, and noted the disappointment of Western curators with this. On July 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the counteroffensive was facing problems due to the slow pace of the West’s arms shipments.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the West noticed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine lacked weapons and training for competent battles with the Russian army. They cannot pass the minefields deployed by the RF Armed Forces, and the Russian military aviation also complicates the task.

The failure of the counter-offensive is already recognized in many countries – Kyiv’s allies. So, on August 17, Andy Harris, a member of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, said that there was no chance that Kyiv would win the conflict. Deputy of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Yevgeny Schmidt also agreed that the promised offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces failed, despite the supply of weapons from the West. Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson, in turn, noted that the Ukrainian troops will not be able to continue fighting without the help of NATO, while already now the Ukrainian Armed Forces lack Western equipment.

On August 28, the Financial Times stated that Western military instructors admitted that the UAF could not make progress in its counter-offensive. The main obstacle to the advancement of Ukrainian nationalists was the opportunities and high technologies available to the units of the Russian army.