Counter-offensive around Kherson: "Systematic attrition of Putin's army"
Created: 09/04/2022, 18:59
By: Alexander Gottschalk
In the south of the country, Ukraine has gone on the offensive.
According to Kiev's calculations, the fighting there is likely to drag on.
Frankfurt/Kyiv - Ukraine must be prepared for a protracted counter-offensive in the Cherson region in the south of the country.
According to US media reports, Oleksiy Arestovich, advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenkyj, made this clear in the past few days.
According to the
Wall Street Journal
newspaper , he described the current military strategy as a "systematic attrition of Putin's army".
Arestovich said Kiev's armed forces are working to locate and destroy the Russian army's logistics supply system with artillery and US-provided missile systems called HIMARS.
This process can take some time.
"There is no rush," a report in the
Wall Street Journal
on Saturday (September 3) continued, quoting the 47-year-old presidential adviser.
News on the Ukraine war: counter-offensive in Kherson is "slow operation"
As early as Monday evening (August 29), Arestovich is said to have prepared his compatriots for longer combat operations around Cherson.
With regard to the Ukrainian counter-offensive, he spoke of a “slow operation”, as reported by
CNN
, among others .
Accordingly, he wrote on a telegram that the "not very fast process" will end with the "installation of the Ukrainian flag over all settlements in Ukraine".
Ukrainian soldiers ride on a tank.
The counter-offensive in Cherson is a "slow operation," says one of Zelenky's advisors.
© Leo Correa/dpa
The area around the seaport city of Kherson on the Dnipro River was one of the first to fall into the hands of the Russian invaders in March - and is still an important victory for Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine war.
A large-scale and long-awaited counterattack by Ukraine has been underway since Monday (29 August).
Little is known about the actual combat operations.
There is talk of heavy fighting, in the past few days there have been repeated explosions.
News about the Ukraine war: Counter-offensive in the Cherson area is said to have surprised Russia
Ukraine's goal is to retake Cherson.
According to official information, however, the armed forces lack the firepower and troop strength to make rapid progress.
According to estimates, Russia has around 20,000 soldiers stationed in and around the city.
According to the
Wall Street Journal
, which spoke to US military strategists, Ukraine could use a series of smaller attacks to gradually push the Russians back toward the river, cutting supplies in the process.
"The enemy must be unable and unwilling to offer effective resistance," Oleksiy Arestovich told the newspaper recently.
However, it remains unclear how successful Ukraine is with its counter-offensive.
According to British intelligence, Kiev's troops are currently forcing a broad advance on three axes west of the Dnipro River.
While this offensive had limited immediate targets, it was believed to have surprised the Russians tactically.
News about the Ukraine war: British report about difficult decisions for Russians
"Logistical deficiencies and weaknesses" in the leadership of the Russian offensive were exposed, according to a short report by the Ministry of Defense in London on Saturday (September 3).
Russian commanders would now have to decide which region to focus on for supplies and reserve forces.
Forcing troop shifts with the counterattack from Cherson is considered a possible intermediate goal for Kyiv.
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Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, the British government has regularly released intelligence information about its progress.
Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
The Kremlin is currently trying to describe the counter-offensive in the south of Ukraine as a failure, due to the scant information about concrete successes.
According to Russian information, the Ukrainian military suffered high losses in its counter-offensive.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia speaks of high losses for Kyiv
Attempts to establish themselves in the area between Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih were unsuccessful, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported.
Ukraine lost 23 tanks and 27 combat vehicles.
In addition, more than 230 soldiers are said to have been killed.
The Ukraine, in turn, reported that Russian facilities had been destroyed.
This information could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, there are reports of the dwindling morale of Russian troops in the Ukraine war.
(Alexander Gottschalk with dpa and AFP)
