Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told CNN that “the United States has regular military-to-military dialogue at multiple levels with Ukraine. We will not comment on the specifics of those engagements. In general, we provide the Ukrainians with information to help them better understand the threats.” confronting and defending their country against Russian aggression. Ultimately, Ukrainians make the final decisions about their operations.” Officials say they believe there is now increased parity between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. But Western officials are reluctant to call the nascent Ukrainian operation — which appeared to have begun Monday in the southern province of Kherson — a true “counterattack.” How successful Ukraine is likely to be in reclaiming lost territory remains an open question, sources familiar with the latest information tell CNN. Ukrainian officials have already said this offensive will likely be a slow operation, and a punishing cold winter is coming, followed by an early spring mudslide, both of which could force the fighting to grind to a halt. But there is a distinct sense among Ukrainian, U.S. and Western advisers that the Ukrainian military is on much more equal footing with Russia than was believed even a few months ago, multiple officials told CNN. Russia still maintains superior numbers in total manpower and massed artillery. But Ukrainian capabilities, bolstered by sophisticated Western weapons and training, have closed a significant gap, officials say — particularly the high-mobility artillery missile systems, or HIMARS, that Ukraine uses to launch attacks behind Russian front lines. last months. “It shows you what continuous training and weapons can do when the force is highly motivated and operationally competent,” a senior NATO official told CNN. Another US military source put it more bluntly: Ukraine has offset Russia’s advantage in sheer volume of fire with its “competence”.
Rising momentum
Ukraine has signaled publicly for months that it intended to launch a major counteroffensive to recapture territory it lost to Russia in the six-month war. And even before Monday, when Ukrainian forces began increasing artillery and missile fire on fronts in southern Ukraine, Kyiv was actively blocking Russia’s supply efforts and command and control across the region. For weeks, Ukraine has used a mix of insurgents, long-range fire and special operations forces to launch a series of attacks far behind Russian lines — including in Crimea — targeting administrative and command-and-control hubs within its preparation for the southern attack. “I don’t think it’s yet possible to confirm the extent of the Ukrainian advances, but they have certainly affected Russia’s ability to move north and south. [the Dnieper River] with their attacks on bridges,” the senior NATO official said on Wednesday. “And in terms of future prospects, I would note that Ukraine is much closer to parity in troop numbers in Kherson than it has been in recent weeks.” in the country’s eastern provinces, where fighting has been going on for months. The attacks in Crimea were a particularly smart strategy, one official said, because Russia uses the peninsula as a launching pad for its operations in southern Ukraine. Russia has also been forced to pull resources from the east “simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might attack more in the south,” John Kirby, communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said Monday. “And so they had to deplete certain units … in certain areas in the east in the Donbas, to respond to what they clearly believed was a looming threat of a counterattack,” Kirby said.
A closer mission
U.S. and Ukrainian sources tell CNN that earlier plans for the Ukrainian operation were initially broader and included a more ambitious effort to retake other territory lost to the Russian invasion over the past six months, including the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. But by Monday, Ukrainian officials appeared laser-focused on recapturing the Kherson region. An administration official told CNN that in recent months, Ukraine has asked the US for weapons specifically suited to its planned counteroffensive in the south. The U.S. fulfilled many of those requests — including additional ammunition, artillery and javelins — during several exit aid packages provided to Ukraine over the past two months, the official said. The planning exercises also helped the United States better understand what kind of equipment, munitions or intelligence it could provide that would be most useful to Ukraine. During the war, the US regularly provided Ukraine with military advice and intelligence, along with billions of dollars in equipment and weapons.
“A slow operation to grind the enemy”
Officials say Ukraine now appears more evenly matched with Russian forces, not only because of the advanced Western weaponry Ukraine is using effectively, but also because the Ukrainians still have the advantage in terms of morale, unit cohesion, tactics acumen and the superior ability to improvise on the fly. They also have another advantage, two officials said: a population that is largely disgusted by Russian occupation and willing to engage in partisan attacks to drive them out — such as assassinations and sabotage attempts behind enemy lines. But despite the more bullish assessment of Ukraine’s fighting capabilities, US officials aren’t betting that Ukraine will successfully retake Kherson — yet. “I’m not sure this is going to be the big, massive counterattack that people might expect — it might be a smaller number of forces,” the US military source warned. Much will depend on how well Russia is able to defend the newly claimed territory, the source said – something it has yet to be called upon to do in the past six months. A Ukrainian presidential adviser also warned that the offensive would be a “slow operation to grind the enemy down.” “This process will not be very fast,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in a statement posted on his Telegram account late Monday, “but it will end with the placement of the Ukrainian flag. in all settlements of Ukraine”.
title: “The Us Went To War With Ukraine Before Striking Back And Encouraged A More Limited Mission Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-09” author: “Rowena Cummings”
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told CNN that “the United States has regular military-to-military dialogue at multiple levels with Ukraine. We will not comment on the specifics of those engagements. In general, we provide the Ukrainians with information to help them better understand the threats.” confronting and defending their country against Russian aggression. Ultimately, Ukrainians make the final decisions about their operations.” Officials say they believe there is now increased parity between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. But Western officials are reluctant to call the nascent Ukrainian operation — which appeared to have begun Monday in the southern province of Kherson — a true “counterattack.” How successful Ukraine is likely to be in reclaiming lost territory remains an open question, sources familiar with the latest information tell CNN. Ukrainian officials have already said this offensive will likely be a slow operation, and a punishing cold winter is coming, followed by an early spring mudslide, both of which could force the fighting to grind to a halt. But there is a distinct sense among Ukrainian, U.S. and Western advisers that the Ukrainian military is on much more equal footing with Russia than was believed even a few months ago, multiple officials told CNN. Russia still maintains superior numbers in total manpower and massed artillery. But Ukrainian capabilities, bolstered by sophisticated Western weapons and training, have closed a significant gap, officials say — particularly the high-mobility artillery missile systems, or HIMARS, that Ukraine uses to launch attacks behind Russian front lines. last months. “It shows you what continuous training and weapons can do when the force is highly motivated and operationally competent,” a senior NATO official told CNN. Another US military source put it more bluntly: Ukraine has offset Russia’s advantage in sheer volume of fire with its “competence”.
Rising momentum
Ukraine has signaled publicly for months that it intended to launch a major counteroffensive to recapture territory it lost to Russia in the six-month war. And even before Monday, when Ukrainian forces began increasing artillery and missile fire on fronts in southern Ukraine, Kyiv was actively blocking Russia’s supply efforts and command and control across the region. For weeks, Ukraine has used a mix of insurgents, long-range fire and special operations forces to launch a series of attacks far behind Russian lines — including in Crimea — targeting administrative and command-and-control hubs within its preparation for the southern attack. “I don’t think it’s yet possible to confirm the extent of the Ukrainian advances, but they have certainly affected Russia’s ability to move north and south. [the Dnieper River] with their attacks on bridges,” the senior NATO official said on Wednesday. “And in terms of future prospects, I would note that Ukraine is much closer to parity in troop numbers in Kherson than it has been in recent weeks.” in the country’s eastern provinces, where fighting has been going on for months. The attacks in Crimea were a particularly smart strategy, one official said, because Russia uses the peninsula as a launching pad for its operations in southern Ukraine. Russia has also been forced to pull resources from the east “simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might attack more in the south,” John Kirby, communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said Monday. “And so they had to deplete certain units … in certain areas in the east in the Donbas, to respond to what they clearly believed was a looming threat of a counterattack,” Kirby said.
A closer mission
U.S. and Ukrainian sources tell CNN that earlier plans for the Ukrainian operation were initially broader and included a more ambitious effort to retake other territory lost to the Russian invasion over the past six months, including the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. But by Monday, Ukrainian officials appeared laser-focused on recapturing the Kherson region. An administration official told CNN that in recent months, Ukraine has asked the US for weapons specifically suited to its planned counteroffensive in the south. The U.S. fulfilled many of those requests — including additional ammunition, artillery and javelins — during several exit aid packages provided to Ukraine over the past two months, the official said. The planning exercises also helped the United States better understand what kind of equipment, munitions or intelligence it could provide that would be most useful to Ukraine. During the war, the US regularly provided Ukraine with military advice and intelligence, along with billions of dollars in equipment and weapons.
“A slow operation to grind the enemy”
Officials say Ukraine now appears more evenly matched with Russian forces, not only because of the advanced Western weaponry Ukraine is using effectively, but also because the Ukrainians still have the advantage in terms of morale, unit cohesion, tactics acumen and the superior ability to improvise on the fly. They also have another advantage, two officials said: a population that is largely disgusted by Russian occupation and willing to engage in partisan attacks to drive them out — such as assassinations and sabotage attempts behind enemy lines. But despite the more bullish assessment of Ukraine’s fighting capabilities, US officials aren’t betting that Ukraine will successfully retake Kherson — yet. “I’m not sure this is going to be the big, massive counterattack that people might expect — it might be a smaller number of forces,” the US military source warned. Much will depend on how well Russia is able to defend the newly claimed territory, the source said – something it has yet to be called upon to do in the past six months. A Ukrainian presidential adviser also warned that the offensive would be a “slow operation to grind the enemy down.” “This process will not be very fast,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in a statement posted on his Telegram account late Monday, “but it will end with the placement of the Ukrainian flag. in all settlements of Ukraine”.
title: “The Us Went To War With Ukraine Before Striking Back And Encouraged A More Limited Mission Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-27” author: “Melanie Dyal”
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told CNN that “the United States has regular military-to-military dialogue at multiple levels with Ukraine. We will not comment on the specifics of those engagements. In general, we provide the Ukrainians with information to help them better understand the threats.” confronting and defending their country against Russian aggression. Ultimately, Ukrainians make the final decisions about their operations.” Officials say they believe there is now increased parity between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. But Western officials are reluctant to call the nascent Ukrainian operation — which appeared to have begun Monday in the southern province of Kherson — a true “counterattack.” How successful Ukraine is likely to be in reclaiming lost territory remains an open question, sources familiar with the latest information tell CNN. Ukrainian officials have already said this offensive will likely be a slow operation, and a punishing cold winter is coming, followed by an early spring mudslide, both of which could force the fighting to grind to a halt. But there is a distinct sense among Ukrainian, U.S. and Western advisers that the Ukrainian military is on much more equal footing with Russia than was believed even a few months ago, multiple officials told CNN. Russia still maintains superior numbers in total manpower and massed artillery. But Ukrainian capabilities, bolstered by sophisticated Western weapons and training, have closed a significant gap, officials say — particularly the high-mobility artillery missile systems, or HIMARS, that Ukraine uses to launch attacks behind Russian front lines. last months. “It shows you what continuous training and weapons can do when the force is highly motivated and operationally competent,” a senior NATO official told CNN. Another US military source put it more bluntly: Ukraine has offset Russia’s advantage in sheer volume of fire with its “competence”.
Rising momentum
Ukraine has signaled publicly for months that it intended to launch a major counteroffensive to recapture territory it lost to Russia in the six-month war. And even before Monday, when Ukrainian forces began increasing artillery and missile fire on fronts in southern Ukraine, Kyiv was actively blocking Russia’s supply efforts and command and control across the region. For weeks, Ukraine has used a mix of insurgents, long-range fire and special operations forces to launch a series of attacks far behind Russian lines — including in Crimea — targeting administrative and command-and-control hubs within its preparation for the southern attack. “I don’t think it’s yet possible to confirm the extent of the Ukrainian advances, but they have certainly affected Russia’s ability to move north and south. [the Dnieper River] with their attacks on bridges,” the senior NATO official said on Wednesday. “And in terms of future prospects, I would note that Ukraine is much closer to parity in troop numbers in Kherson than it has been in recent weeks.” in the country’s eastern provinces, where fighting has been going on for months. The attacks in Crimea were a particularly smart strategy, one official said, because Russia uses the peninsula as a launching pad for its operations in southern Ukraine. Russia has also been forced to pull resources from the east “simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might attack more in the south,” John Kirby, communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said Monday. “And so they had to deplete certain units … in certain areas in the east in the Donbas, to respond to what they clearly believed was a looming threat of a counterattack,” Kirby said.
A closer mission
U.S. and Ukrainian sources tell CNN that earlier plans for the Ukrainian operation were initially broader and included a more ambitious effort to retake other territory lost to the Russian invasion over the past six months, including the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. But by Monday, Ukrainian officials appeared laser-focused on recapturing the Kherson region. An administration official told CNN that in recent months, Ukraine has asked the US for weapons specifically suited to its planned counteroffensive in the south. The U.S. fulfilled many of those requests — including additional ammunition, artillery and javelins — during several exit aid packages provided to Ukraine over the past two months, the official said. The planning exercises also helped the United States better understand what kind of equipment, munitions or intelligence it could provide that would be most useful to Ukraine. During the war, the US regularly provided Ukraine with military advice and intelligence, along with billions of dollars in equipment and weapons.
“A slow operation to grind the enemy”
Officials say Ukraine now appears more evenly matched with Russian forces, not only because of the advanced Western weaponry Ukraine is using effectively, but also because the Ukrainians still have the advantage in terms of morale, unit cohesion, tactics acumen and the superior ability to improvise on the fly. They also have another advantage, two officials said: a population that is largely disgusted by Russian occupation and willing to engage in partisan attacks to drive them out — such as assassinations and sabotage attempts behind enemy lines. But despite the more bullish assessment of Ukraine’s fighting capabilities, US officials aren’t betting that Ukraine will successfully retake Kherson — yet. “I’m not sure this is going to be the big, massive counterattack that people might expect — it might be a smaller number of forces,” the US military source warned. Much will depend on how well Russia is able to defend the newly claimed territory, the source said – something it has yet to be called upon to do in the past six months. A Ukrainian presidential adviser also warned that the offensive would be a “slow operation to grind the enemy down.” “This process will not be very fast,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in a statement posted on his Telegram account late Monday, “but it will end with the placement of the Ukrainian flag. in all settlements of Ukraine”.
title: “The Us Went To War With Ukraine Before Striking Back And Encouraged A More Limited Mission Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-06” author: “Mark Pence”
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told CNN that “the United States has regular military-to-military dialogue at multiple levels with Ukraine. We will not comment on the specifics of those engagements. In general, we provide the Ukrainians with information to help them better understand the threats.” confronting and defending their country against Russian aggression. Ultimately, Ukrainians make the final decisions about their operations.” Officials say they believe there is now increased parity between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. But Western officials are reluctant to call the nascent Ukrainian operation — which appeared to have begun Monday in the southern province of Kherson — a true “counterattack.” How successful Ukraine is likely to be in reclaiming lost territory remains an open question, sources familiar with the latest information tell CNN. Ukrainian officials have already said this offensive will likely be a slow operation, and a punishing cold winter is coming, followed by an early spring mudslide, both of which could force the fighting to grind to a halt. But there is a distinct sense among Ukrainian, U.S. and Western advisers that the Ukrainian military is on much more equal footing with Russia than was believed even a few months ago, multiple officials told CNN. Russia still maintains superior numbers in total manpower and massed artillery. But Ukrainian capabilities, bolstered by sophisticated Western weapons and training, have closed a significant gap, officials say — particularly the high-mobility artillery missile systems, or HIMARS, that Ukraine uses to launch attacks behind Russian front lines. last months. “It shows you what continuous training and weapons can do when the force is highly motivated and operationally competent,” a senior NATO official told CNN. Another US military source put it more bluntly: Ukraine has offset Russia’s advantage in sheer volume of fire with its “competence”.
Rising momentum
Ukraine has signaled publicly for months that it intended to launch a major counteroffensive to recapture territory it lost to Russia in the six-month war. And even before Monday, when Ukrainian forces began increasing artillery and missile fire on fronts in southern Ukraine, Kyiv was actively blocking Russia’s supply efforts and command and control across the region. For weeks, Ukraine has used a mix of insurgents, long-range fire and special operations forces to launch a series of attacks far behind Russian lines — including in Crimea — targeting administrative and command-and-control hubs within its preparation for the southern attack. “I don’t think it’s yet possible to confirm the extent of the Ukrainian advances, but they have certainly affected Russia’s ability to move north and south. [the Dnieper River] with their attacks on bridges,” the senior NATO official said on Wednesday. “And in terms of future prospects, I would note that Ukraine is much closer to parity in troop numbers in Kherson than it has been in recent weeks.” in the country’s eastern provinces, where fighting has been going on for months. The attacks in Crimea were a particularly smart strategy, one official said, because Russia uses the peninsula as a launching pad for its operations in southern Ukraine. Russia has also been forced to pull resources from the east “simply because of reports that the Ukrainians might attack more in the south,” John Kirby, communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said Monday. “And so they had to deplete certain units … in certain areas in the east in the Donbas, to respond to what they clearly believed was a looming threat of a counterattack,” Kirby said.
A closer mission
U.S. and Ukrainian sources tell CNN that earlier plans for the Ukrainian operation were initially broader and included a more ambitious effort to retake other territory lost to the Russian invasion over the past six months, including the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. But by Monday, Ukrainian officials appeared laser-focused on recapturing the Kherson region. An administration official told CNN that in recent months, Ukraine has asked the US for weapons specifically suited to its planned counteroffensive in the south. The U.S. fulfilled many of those requests — including additional ammunition, artillery and javelins — during several exit aid packages provided to Ukraine over the past two months, the official said. The planning exercises also helped the United States better understand what kind of equipment, munitions or intelligence it could provide that would be most useful to Ukraine. During the war, the US regularly provided Ukraine with military advice and intelligence, along with billions of dollars in equipment and weapons.
“A slow operation to grind the enemy”
Officials say Ukraine now appears more evenly matched with Russian forces, not only because of the advanced Western weaponry Ukraine is using effectively, but also because the Ukrainians still have the advantage in terms of morale, unit cohesion, tactics acumen and the superior ability to improvise on the fly. They also have another advantage, two officials said: a population that is largely disgusted by Russian occupation and willing to engage in partisan attacks to drive them out — such as assassinations and sabotage attempts behind enemy lines. But despite the more bullish assessment of Ukraine’s fighting capabilities, US officials aren’t betting that Ukraine will successfully retake Kherson — yet. “I’m not sure this is going to be the big, massive counterattack that people might expect — it might be a smaller number of forces,” the US military source warned. Much will depend on how well Russia is able to defend the newly claimed territory, the source said – something it has yet to be called upon to do in the past six months. A Ukrainian presidential adviser also warned that the offensive would be a “slow operation to grind the enemy down.” “This process will not be very fast,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in a statement posted on his Telegram account late Monday, “but it will end with the placement of the Ukrainian flag. in all settlements of Ukraine”.
