Washington – Summer in Ukraine is only a few weeks away, the country is in an intense battle against Russian troops for control of the city of Bakhmut. The long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive has not yet started.
In this sense, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, he reported last week, which was postponed because his country lacks enough weapons provided by Western countries to achieve victory without suffering too many casualties. Also, both the weather and the training play a role, according to defense officials and experts.
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Meanwhile, Ukraine has already taken preliminary steps to establish the conditions it wants for an attack, a US official told The Associated Press Agency, who requested anonymity.
WHAT ARE THE FACTORS FOR WHICH THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE WAS DELAYED?
1. Weather.
One factor that is contributing to this delay is the weather. Because it has taken longer than expected for the frozen land of Ukraine to thaw and dry; both the humidity and the cold of spring continued, making it difficult to carry out the offensive.
A Ukrainian tank fires towards Russian front line positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
2. Training.
Currently, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have received combat training from the United States and its allies; however, the last Ukrainian battalion currently undergoing training is just finishing its courses.
Thus, with this last contingent of trained soldiers, the total number of Ukrainians that the United States will have trained is more than 10,700. These troops, in addition to having been trained in field and medical skills, were also trained in advanced strategies for the use of weapons in combination with the Stryker and Bradley armored fighting vehicles, and the Paladin self-propelled howitzers, they were also trained to operate the Patriot defense missiles.
According to US Army Forces Europe and Africa data, more than 41,000 additional Ukrainian troops were trained through programs operated by more than 30 partner nations.
Likewise, a new phase is expected to begin soon, since Washington will begin training Ukrainians in the use of Abrams tanks at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany.
Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut at Russian forces, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
3. Armament.
In the last five months, the United States reported sending more than $14 billion worth of arms and ammunition to kyiv.
For her part, the NATO and other Western allies pledged to hand over billions of dollars worth of tanks, as well as armored vehicles and air defense systems.
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Much of that equipment has yet to arrive, however, Ben Barry, a former British intelligence official now a ground-based weapons researcher at the AP, told the AP. International Institute for Strategic Studies.
For example, Barry details, of the nearly 300 promised tank systems, including the Leopard 2 tanks that various countries said they would send, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, only about 100 have arrived; As well as about 700 promised fighting vehicles, such as British Marauders and Bradley armored infantry vehicles, about 300 have arrived so far.
Likewise, the former British intelligence official believes that Ukraine is going to need enough ammunition on hand to be able to sustain a combat rhythm once the war begins. counteroffensive.
Ukrainian soldiers battle near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on April 19, 2023.
4. The counteroffensive
At the moment, both Russia and Ukraine are carrying out measures in anticipation of the counteroffensive.
Moscow has about 200,000 soldiers along a battle front that is 1,000 kilometers long, and they are using the same trench strategy used in World War I, an official on guard duty told the AP. anonymity.
On the Ukrainian side, they have already begun to shape their operations, including how to attack the Russian front lines with long-range artillery fire; This could be an indicator that the Ukrainian government is about to move on that site, or perhaps it could be a decoy aimed at diverting Moscow’s attention from giving Ukraine its first blow, the official said.
When Ukraine makes efforts to penetrate those lines, either in a limited area or in a difficult multi-site campaign, this will likely be an indicator that the offensive has already begun, Barry and the Western official explained.
US TO GIVE UKRAINE F-16 FIGHTER PLANES
During the G7 summit, US President Joe Biden announced to his partners that the United States is going to help train Ukrainian pilots in handling F-16 fighters.
Biden assured that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski, guaranteed him that he will not use these combat aircraft against targets within Russian territory.
So far, however, the Biden administration has not released details about when, how many, and who will supply the F-16s.
With this decision, the Biden administration reversed course, after refusing for more than a year to approve any transfer of the plane or to provide training, out of concern that doing so could escalate tensions with Russia.
With information from The Associated Press and EFE Agencies.
