Ukraine aims to sap Russia’s defenses, as U.S. urges a decisive breakthrough

Ukraine aims to sap Russia’s defenses, as U.S. urges a decisive breakthrough
Ukrainian commanders have yet to use the large-scale offensive tactics they have been trained on, as Kyiv says it needs more weapons to fight the war Washington wants

Ukraine is making limited advances in its counteroffensive against Russian forces but has yet to employ the kind of larger-scale operations that American officials believe could enable a breakthrough, officials and analysts say, deepening questions among some of Ukraine’s chief backers about whether Kyiv can move fast enough to match a finite supply of munitions and arms.
Five weeks into the highly anticipated operation, Ukrainian forces are attempting to weaken Russian defenses by firing fusillades of artillery and missiles and sending small teams of sappers into the sprawling minefields that constitute their adversary’s outermost ring of defense. But the pace of progress, in three main areas along a vast 600-mile front line, has generated concerns in the West that the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky may not deliver as powerful a blow as it could.

A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share the American assessment of the operation, said the United States and other nations had trained Ukrainian troops on integrated offensive maneuvers and provided mine-clearing equipment including rollers and rocket-fired charges.
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“So, to say that it is slow or too fast is at least ridiculous to hear from those who have no idea what it is,” Zaluzhny said in an interview. “They do not know what it is. And God forbid they should ever experience it.”

American officials privately say that Western jets would have little utility in the current fight because of Russia’s extensive air defenses.

Milley said that mines, not aircraft, were the most deadly challenge facing Ukrainian troops in the current operation and noted that they already have ground-to-air weapons that he described as the most “efficient and cost-effective” tool for targeting Russian fighter jets.

Procuring enough F-16s or other aircraft to match Russia’s arsenal of hundreds of advanced jets, moreover, would take billions of dollars and years of training, he said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/18/ukraine-counter-offensive-weapons-tactics/

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