The New York Times in a weekend story admitted that things are looking grim for the chances of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, acknowledging that President Zelensky had been forced to put it on “pause” at one point.

The story, headlined “After Suffering Heavy Losses, Ukrainians Paused To Rethink Strategy” still sought to put a positive spin on the dire situation for Kiev:

Some of the improvement came because Ukraine changed tactics, focusing more on wearing down the Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles than charging into enemy minefields and fire.

But that good news obscures some grim realities. The losses have also slowed because the counteroffensive itself has slowed — and even halted in places — as Ukrainian soldiers struggle against Russia’s formidable defenses. And despite the losses, the Ukrainians have so far taken just five of the 60 miles they hope to cover to reach the sea in the south and split the Russian forces in two.

This after admitting that only within the first couple weeks of the counteroffensive Ukraine forces lost some 20% of the weaponry newly supplied by the West, including tanks and armored vehicles. The much-vaunted offensive had kicked off in May, but hasn’t translated to any major gains.

“This week, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, acknowledged that there had been a brief pause in operations some weeks ago but blamed it on a lack of equipment and munitions, and called on Western allies to quicken the pace of deliveries,” wrote the Times.

The report underscored that that the Pentagon has since publicly acknowledged the “pause”, but then added: “American officials acknowledged the pause and said that the Ukrainians had begun moving again, but more deliberately, more adept at navigating minefields and mindful of the casualty risks.”

As for Zelensky, he said in Friday words to the nation that “We must all understand very clearly, as clearly as possible, that Russian forces in our southern and eastern lands are doing everything they can in order to stop our soldiers.” He added, “And every thousand metres we advance, every success of every combat brigade deserves our gratitude.”

Very quickly after the counteroffensive kicked off last month, he admitted “slower than expected” pace while also complaining that more Western weapons and artillery are badly needed.

This, btw, is not the first such admission: https://t.co/DgkWxjRFGE

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) July 14, 2023

The start of the counteroffensive some two months ago was accompanied by glowing Western mainstream media accounts of the rapid successes that would be wrought. Even before that, most accounts of the battlefield situation were heavily skewed to fit a pro-Kiev, pro-West narrative – but the reality has proven much messier and ultimately illusory. 

American “bomb” report: “Counterattack over – Ukrainians have colossal losses” – Sergeant: “They keep asking for evacuation – Everything burned”

The reality is very grim – 30% of Leopards and 20% of Bradleys are lost!

A bombshell New York Times op-ed quoting US and other NATO Officials completely deconstructs the Ukrainian counteroffensive, noting that it stalled because of Kiev’s colossal losses.

American officials and analysts cite shocking figures emphasizing that 20% of Bradleys and 30% of Leopards have been lost so far! And this with the “good morning” of the counterattack.

See for example the new video from Zaporizhia. Ukrainian group requests urgent evacuation after failed attack. This pattern is now constantly repeated, especially on the Zaporizhia front.

The Ukrainians, after the heavy losses in tanks and armored vehicles, are mainly using Infantry as WarNews247 recorded yesterday.

But there is chaos there too. A pure tragedy as the British mercenary described it yesterday.

In the first two weeks of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, 20 percent of the weapons it sent into the battlefield were damaged or destroyed, according to U.S. and European officials.

The account includes some of the Western machines – tanks and armored personnel carriers – with which the Ukrainians counted on defeating the Russians.

The staggering casualty rate dropped to about 10 percent in the following weeks, officials said.

The improvement came about because Ukraine changed tactics, focusing more on destroying Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles while avoiding enemy minefields and Russian artillery.

Read also: “Meat machine” Zaporizhia: Second major massacre of Ukrainian forces – Russians drowned in blood three waves of attacks with hundreds of dead (vid)

Ukrainian Sergeant: “Everything burned”

But this good news obscures some grim realities. Casualties have also slowed because the counteroffensive itself has slowed – and even stopped in places – as Ukrainian soldiers struggle against Russia’s formidable defenses.

And despite the losses, the Ukrainians have so far made just five of the 60 miles they hope to cover to reach the sea to the south and cut Russian forces in half.

A Ukrainian soldier said in an interview this week that his unit’s drone captured footage of half a dozen Western armored personnel carriers ambushed by artillery south of the town of Velyka Novosilka.

“Everything burned,” said the soldier, who identified himself as Sergeant Igor.

“Everyone is hoping for a big penetration,” he said.

Russia has had many months to prepare for the counterattack, and the front is littered with mines, tank traps and dug trenches, while Russian reconnaissance drones and attack helicopters fly overhead with great frequency.

Given these fortifications, experts say, it is not surprising that Ukraine would suffer relatively heavy casualties in the early stages of the campaign.

Also read: They fought heroically to the end: 11 minutes of mass casualties of the Ukrainian Army – The most heartbreaking video yet (Hard images 18+)

Stop the counterattack

This week, Ukraine’s president, V. Zelensky, acknowledged that there had been a brief pause in operations. At the same time, he blamed the West for the lack of equipment and ammunition and called on Western allies to speed up the pace of deliveries.

U.S. officials acknowledged that pause and said the Ukrainians began moving again, but more purposefully, more experienced in navigating minefields and aware of the risks of casualties. With the shipment of cluster munitions from the United States, they said, the pace could be quickened.

“It’s not that fast, but it’s not catastrophically delayed,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Wednesday . “He’s doing what anyone else would do to fight his way through minefields to the Russian line.”

The problems are centered on farms in southern Ukraine, where much of the counteroffensive is taking place. There, Bradley vehicles, coveted by the Ukrainians, run into anti-tank mines on a daily basis, say soldiers who have fought in the area.

The vehicles, which weigh around 34 tons, are designed to transport soldiers through areas exposed to artillery fire. In the design of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Bradleys were intended to transport troops across open fields to reach Russian trenches and bunkers.

“Your ears are ringing and things inside are flying around,” said Pvt. Serhiy, who asked to be identified only by his first name and rank.

It survived one such blast last month in fighting south of the city of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia region. In many cases the explosions severely damaged the vehicles, immobilizing them long before they could reach the Russian lines.

Military experts have long said that the first 15 miles of the Ukrainian counteroffensive will be the most difficult, as the attacking troops need three times as much strength – in weapons, personnel or both – as the defending forces.

Ukraine’s top military officer, General Valery Zaluzhny, expressed his disappointment that Ukraine is fighting without Western F-16 jets. This left Ukrainian troops vulnerable to Russian helicopter gunships and artillery.

Military analysts cautioned that it was still too early to draw any definitive conclusions about the counterattack.

Read also: “Death Zone” Central Zaporizhia: Ukrainians broke through Russian defenses in Rabotino and recaptured Rivnopil with heavy “blood tax” (vid, pictures)

Ukrainian losses

“It doesn’t mean it’s doomed to fail,” said Camille Grand, a defense expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a former NATO assistant secretary general.

However, he added, the absence of air superiority and air defenses that Western fighters could provide for the Ukraine attack means “casualty rates are likely to be higher than in other conventional conflicts.”

The exact number of weapons and armored vehicles destroyed in the counterattack, as opposed to “mobility kills” that can be repaired, is secret, and U.S. officials did not provide figures, although they agreed on the percentages of weapons lost.

For example, Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, one of three units equipped and trained in the West was to receive 99 Bradleys, according to US military plans.

Data from Oryx, a military analytics website that only counts casualties it has visually confirmed, shows 28 of those Bradleys have been abandoned or destroyed, including 15 in a village in Zaporizhia province on June 8 and 9.

The 47th Brigade was attacked by helicopters while trapped in a minefield.

Six additional Bradleys were reported abandoned or destroyed at Mala Tokmachka on June 26, but Oryx researchers said those losses occurred earlier, although it is unclear exactly when.

Since the 47th was the only brigade originally slated to receive the Bradleys, this means that almost a third of the original tanks have been lost — though all but seven were blown up on a single battlefield.

Read also: Tragedy without end: Ukrainian forces massacred in the blink of an eye in Ugledar, Gorlovka, Zaporizhia! – Ukrainian soldier: Let’s go to Vietnam!

“It’s within the realm of possibility that Ukrainian forces have seen casualties at this level,” said Dylan Lee Lehrke, an analyst at British security intelligence firm Janes, adding that a “significant” level of lost weapon systems is generally characteristic of wars of attrition. like the one in Ukraine.

NATO Is Moving The World Towards WWIII, It’s Inevitable

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