R Krishna Das
Ukraine will launch a well-planned counteroffensive during April-May, attacking Russian forces in several directions at once.
The strategy planned by Ukraine has reportedly leaked with Ukrainian authorities expressing displeasure about a report flashed on US media on its potential counteroffensive against the Russian military in May. The authorities had said such a military move “should be a surprise for the enemy.”
On March 15, Politico published a story citing unnamed American officials saying they believe Kyiv would launch its counteroffensive against the Russian military in May. Also, the article discussed two possible strategies the officials reportedly believed Ukrainian could adopt while conducting its operation against Russia.
However, the Ukrainian Defence Minister had gone on record now to talk about the plan that Kyiv had been concealing. Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defense Minister, said in an interview with Estonian news outlet ERR that it had chalked out a strategy to attack Russia from all corners. The timing of its start is also contingent on weather conditions, he said.
“You will see Leopards in a counterattack by the decision of our General Staff. It is already planned in several directions,” Reznikov said.
He added that the start of the offensive would also depend on finding the most appropriate moment, particularly as regards favorable weather conditions. “In the spring, our land is very wet. I think we will see them [Leopards] in April-May,
Reznikov believes that 2023 will bring positive changes to Ukraine with the Defense Forces liberating the temporarily occupied territories, as happened in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions.
The US is quite optimistic about the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive, given the significant depletion of Russian forces coupled with the arrival of new Western weapons supplies sent to Ukraine. “The Ukrainians have inflicted significant losses on the Russians and depleted their armored vehicles in a way no one could have imagined. And now we see Russia decommissioning T-54 and T-55 tanks because of the level of losses that the Ukrainians inflicted upon them,” a senior US official said.
The Institute for the Study of War concluded that Ukraine was well positioned to regain the initiative and launch counter offensives in critical sectors of the current front line, with Russia meanwhile losing momentum. The report was released last week.
