2023-06-27T19:55:00+03:00 Politics 2024-09-15T05:22:20+03:00

Ukrainian news

There are reasons. Kirby explains "slow" counteroffensive of Armed Forces of Ukraine

There are reasons. Kirby explains "slow" counteroffensive of Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Armed Forces of Ukraine counterattack more slowly than Ukraine and the allies would like for objective reasons − the Russians are well prepared for defense.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said this in a briefing.

"President Zelenskyy himself, I think, spoke publicly last week, saying that — you know, that it’s — it’s going slower in some areas than — than he would have liked.  He’s the commander-in-chief.  You know, he gets to make those determinations, and he gets to give those orders.

As I said earlier, the Russians have invested a lot in the last six, eight months in terms of defensive capabilities.  In some cases, their defensive lines are three deep.  And by “three deep,” I don’t mean just three feet.  I mean, miles and miles and miles deep, but three big lines of defense.

They knew that the Ukrainians were going to — going to want to take back territory in the spring and summer months, and they — and they worked to prepare it,” Kirby said.

Also, according to Kirby, in terms of military affairs, it is more difficult to conduct an offensive than to defend.

And the fact that the Ukrainians faced a well-prepared defense of the Russians slowed them down a little.

At the same time, Kirby could not answer the question of whether the Russian defense somehow weakened the unsuccessful rebellion of the leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, at the weekend.

The White House official believes that it is "just too soon to know" about any consequences of that.

Kirby also emphasized that until the events related to the Wagner campaign on Moscow continued in Russia, tens of thousands of Russian military, equipment and other capabilities − air, ground and sea − were in Ukraine and fierce battles were taking place.

 He also added that the United States does not intend to somehow focus on the analysis of the "internal Russian matter," but will continue to focus on supporting Ukraine.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on May 30, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden for the first time said that the issue of providing ATACMS ballistic missiles to Ukraine was under consideration.

And on June 9, representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties of the United States introduced a resolution to Congress on the transfer of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden plans to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the near future.