Maneuvers have been identified on the front line, in the south and east of the country. Volodymir Zelensky confirmed these “actions”, “counter-offensives” but also “defensive”, without giving further details. Moscow claims to hold them in “failure”.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive is confirmed. For the first time, Saturday June 10, the President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press conference from Kyiv that “counter-offensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine”. “I will not talk about it in detail”, he added, however. Ukrainian military operations are reported at several points on the front line. Here’s what we know.
Operations carried out in “at least four areas”
“The Ukrainian counter-offensive has begun”confirms the American analysis center Institute for the Study of War (ISW). According to the organization, “Ukrainian forces carried out counter-offensive operations in at least four areas of the front” SATURDAY.
The ISW also clarified that, according to Russian sources, “Ukrainian forces had tactical advantages to conduct night assaults using Western-provided equipment with superior night optics.”
In its daily report published on Saturday, the Russian army mentions attacks by Kyiv forces in the regions of Zaporizhia, in southern Ukraine, and Donetsk, in the east of the country. This is particularly the case near the devastated city of Bakhmout, which Moscow claimed full conquest in May.
Command Spokesperson East of the Ukrainian army, Serguiï Tcherevaty, meanwhile affirmed on television that the troops from kyiv had managed to advance 1,400 meters around Bakhmout. On Sunday, the Ukrainian ground forces announced on Facebook the capture of the village of Blagodatné in the south-east of the country. The message is accompanied by a video showing soldiers with a Ukrainian flag in a destroyed building. This is the first territorial gain claimed since the outbreak of the offensive.
“Recapturing the Zaporizhia region is a strategic issue that could cut the supply route between the occupied southern region and Crimea”underlines to franceinfo Carole Grimaud, lecturer on Russian geopolitics at Paul-Valéry University in Montpellier.
The Ukrainian authorities keep their strategy vague
On the Ukrainian side, “we have no information on the number of men, the equipment used”observes academic Carole Grimaud. “It’s intentional, it’s part of a strategy to take the Russian line of defense by surprise, to destabilize the Russian side which has been waiting for a counterattack for months”.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted a video on Twitter showing soldiers signaling to be quiet. The video ends with a tagline: “Plans love silence. There will be no announcement about the start” of the counter-offensive.
“We have not been informed of the start of the offensive and we will not be informed of the end either”, says Carole Grimaud. However, we can expect that “may it continue as long as the weather permits”. The goal is to “to make symbolic and strategic advances to show the Russian government and people that it is not possible to continue this special operation”.
Russia assures that “Ukrainian troops have not achieved any of their objectives”
Vladimir Putin assured journalists on Friday that the great Ukrainian counter-offensive expected for months had “begin”. The Russian President immediately added that “all counter-offensive attempts made so far had failed”referring to losses “about three [Ukrainiens] for a” Russian, while affirming that kyiv retained its “offensive potential”. “The Ukrainian troops did not achieve their objective on any of the battlefields”affirmed the master of the Kremlin.
The Russian army has been reporting major attacks for six days, including with equipment delivered by Westerners, on its positions, particularly in southern Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense released a video showing a column of destroyed Western-made tanks and armored vehicles, some still smoking carcasses, in the south of the Donetsk region.
“It’s a strategy to minimize Ukrainian advances”, comments Carole Grimaud. Vladimir Putin wants “to make the Russian soldiers and population believe that there is nothing to fear, that everything is going according to plan”, even if this is no longer the case in the field. Moscow “fears a civil war”believes the expert, while actions of sabotage in Belgorod, Russia, have been claimed by Russians who fight alongside the Ukrainians.