Volodymyr Zelensky claims that the Kremlin had its hands on the plans of the Ukrainian counter-offensive

The Ukrainian president assures that the failure of this counter-offensive is due to information leaks and a lack of ammunition.

It was a failure that dealt a heavy blow to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia managed to get its hands on plans for Ukraine’s 2023 counter-offensive “before the actions of [celle-ci] don’t start, he assured at a press conference on Sunday February 25. Questioned by AFP, kyiv confirmed that the leader was referring to a leak of information.

The Ukrainian leader explained that to overcome the “information leaks” in the future, its military leaders were developing several battle plans for 2024. The great Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer of 2023 ran into powerful Russian defense lines that exhausted the resources of Kiev’s army without make it possible to liberate the regions occupied by Russia.

Only 30% of promised shells were delivered

Added to this leak of information is a lack of ammunition which is becoming problematic. “Out of a million shells that the European Union promised us, not 50% but unfortunately 30% were delivered”, declared the Ukrainian president. These delivery delays have direct consequences on the ground where, from now on, it is Russian forces who are on the offensive. The Ukrainians have been accumulating setbacks in the East for several weeks, notably with the loss of the fortress town of Avdiïvka, and, on Monday, their withdrawal from the village of Lastochkyné, near Avdiïvka.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Roustem Umerov also declared on Sunday that half of the Western weapons promised to kyiv were delivered late. “At present, a commitment is not synonymous with delivery, 50% of [ces] commitments are not delivered on time”, he said. Because of these delays, “we are losing people, we are losing territories”, added the minister. In addition to these delays in European aid, American support, crucial for Ukraine, is currently blocked by the Republican camp of Donald Trump, the majority in Congress.