![]() Kostenko, however, said the distances involved were formidable. If successful, this manoeuvre would sever Russia’s land corridor, cutting off Crimea and the left-bank of the Kherson region from the occupied east of the country. It is widely assumed Ukrainian soldiers will try to recapture the city of Melitopol, and advance towards the ports of Berdiansk and Mariupol. ![]() According to Russian military bloggers there were no signs on Friday of increased activity. The most obvious area for a Ukrainian attack is the Zaporizhzhia region. It was impossible to dig trenches because water appeared after only a few feet, he said. We fire and they fire,” Kostenko said, adding that both sides struggled to defend positions, which were gained and quickly lost, including on Velykyi Potomkin island, next to Kherson, itself the target of daily Russian bombardment. In the meantime, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers were skirmishing on islands in the middle of the river. “There would be an unacceptable level of casualties,” he said. Kostenko said “anything was possible” but that the Russians would immediately spot a buildup of Ukrainian forces, and smash them with artillery. There has been speculation that his troops might try to cross the Dnipro River, where Moscow controls the left bank. Ukraine’s counteroffensive plan is classified, known only to Zelenskiy’s commander-in-chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and a few others. The drones were comparatively cheap to build, and frequently knocked out $2m tanks, he said.Įxplosives drop from the drone to the targets. One Ukrainian operator, who uses the codename Caesar, said most missions were successful. They have nicknamed the invisible drones Baba Yaga, after the supernatural witch who flies around on a broom. It makes its own quadcopters in a workshop, and is engaged in a constant battle of wits with Russian forces, who try to knock out the drones using electronic jamming systems.Īccording to Ukrainian partisans, spooked Russian soldiers have grown terrified of mysterious nighttime attacks. The unit calls itself Perun, after a pagan god of sky and thunder. ![]() When Russia invaded last February, he led the defence of the southern city of Mykolaiv, and has since worked closely with the drone unit. Kostenko is also a deputy with the pro-European Golos party, and the chair of the Kyiv parliament’s intelligence and security committee. We still need a bit more time,” the president said. In interviews this week, Zelenskiy said some armoured vehicles promised by the west had yet to arrive, and that Kyiv was not prepared to accept a bad peace deal if the counteroffensive failed, or fell short. Senior Ukrainian officials have warned against exaggerating the likelihood of a repeat breakthrough. Their optimism comes after Ukrainian operations last autumn in the north-east and south, which liberated large swathes of territory, including the city of Kherson. Western observers, by contrast, appear to expect a decisive blow. They raise the prospect that the war could go on for a long time – through 2023, at least, and into next year. Kostenko’s comments inject a note of caution into what Ukraine’s army might realistically achieve over the next few months. We can’t win if they have large amounts of ammunition and resources.” He acknowledged that Ukraine was playing a disinformation game about when and where it might strike, with signs that it was working, and that Moscow was beginning to panic. “Our army won’t go forward until this preparation work is done. Ukraine’s armed forces were unlikely to embark on a major frontal offensive until they had weakened Moscow’s battlefield capability, he indicated. “That’s already happening too, probably,” he said. A second stage involved seeking out and eliminating Russian command and control centres, causing a breakdown of communications with troops in the field. The first involved the step-by-step elimination of Russia’s military potential, with strikes against logistical targets such as weapons depots and fuel dumps. Kostenko said the campaign was already unfolding in stages. According to Kostenko, Ukraine’s long-anticipated push should be understood as a rolling “spring-summer campaign” against an entrenched and powerful adversary. Speaking earlier the same day, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his forces needed more time. On Thursday night, Russian military bloggers erroneously reported that it had started. There has been intense speculation that Kyiv is about to launch a major counteroffensive.
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