Top US general says Ukraine counter offensive has just weeks left

“There is still a reasonable amount of time, about 30 to 45 days’ worth of fighting weather left,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley informed the BBC on Sunday. After that, mud and rain would possible have an effect on battlefield maneuverability, he stated.

In retaining with the “glass half full” messaging coming from Biden administration officers of late, Milley stated the counteroffensive had achieved “very steady progress” because it started in early June.

“The Ukrainians aren’t done, this battle is not done, and they haven’t finished the fighting part of what they are trying to accomplish. It’s too early to say how this is going to end,” he stated.

Reports on Sunday prompt solely incremental positive factors round certainly one of Ukraine’s primary areas of assault, close to the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia area, which lies on the best way to the strategic city of Tokmak.

An unofficial Telegram channel belonging to Ukraine’s forty sixth brigade, which has proved a dependable supply of knowledge, stated troops had superior to the east of a neighbouring village, however cautioned Russian forces nonetheless held larger floor close by, giving them a bonus.

Meanwhile, a web-based replace from the southern ‘Tavria’ command stated: “we continue to make small advances in the area of Robotyne. About 1.5 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory have been liberated,” although it didn’t say how lengthy a time period it was referring to.

‘The counteroffensive will proceed’

Asked about his forces’ price of advance on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted Ukraine nonetheless had the initiative, however he urged a convention viewers in Kyiv to not see the counteroffensive like a function movie that was all performed in 90 minutes.

One of Zelenskyy’s senior safety officers, talking on the identical occasion the next day, indicated Ukraine’s forces may be set to maintain attacking effectively into the approaching winter.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of navy intelligence, acknowledged the counteroffensive was shifting extra slowly than he would really like. Russia’s defensive strains have been well-planned, he stated, and closely laid with mines, which made the state of affairs on the battlefield “complicated.”

But regardless that chilly climate was a actuality the navy can’t ignore, “hostilities will continue, the counteroffensive will continue,” he stated.

Earlier within the week, retired US normal David Petraeus appeared to supply an identical prognosis at a separate convention in Kyiv, saying, “this will go through the winter.”

Comparisons with Ukraine’s first massive counteroffensive, in 2022, additionally recommend an extended timeframe could possibly be doable.

Russian forces have been rolled eastwards out of Kharkiv area precisely a 12 months in the past, culminating within the recapture of the city of Lyman by Ukrainian forces round September 30.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive within the south then ran for an additional six weeks, solely ending round November 10 with the liberation of Kherson.

It stays a subject of debate amongst analysts and policymakers whether or not Ukraine ought to have saved up the momentum, or whether or not western allies had failed to provide sufficient weapons and ammunition to make that doable.

There are additionally fears expressed by Kyiv’s supporters that any halt in offensive operations over the approaching winter would solely serve to offer Russia the prospect to additional strengthen its defences.