JABAR EKSPRES – Ukraine has now changed its position from the attacked to the attacker after taking an offensive position after receiving supplies of advanced military equipment from the West.
Even Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the start of Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
“We can confirm that Ukaina’s offensive has begun, but Ukrainian forces failed to achieve their goals on any battlefield,” Putin said in an interview broadcast on the Telegram messaging application on Thursday (June 8).
The Institute for the Study of War think-tank also stated the same thing as Putin.
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According to this institute, Ukrainian combat formations changed to attack, both in the east including in Bakhmut and in the south including Zaporizhia.
So far the Ukrainian military has been reluctant to disclose whether or not the counter-offensive has begun.
However, military experts, including Russian war bloggers, say in recent days there has been fierce fighting along the 1,000km frontline, from Kherson in the south to the Ukrainian-Russian border in the east.
In contrast to Putin’s claim that Russia had broken the Ukrainian offensive, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were making progress on various battlefields, including Bakhmut, the fiercest battlefield so far.
“I’m glad everyone has confirmed that progress! Step by step,” Zelenskyy said.
This counter-offensive may or may not work, and it may take a long time.
But the basic message Ukraine wants to send is that Russia cannot win this war, that the Russian invasion was a mistake, that Russia cannot take Ukraine for granted.
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Ukraine also wants to send a message that it is better for Russia to leave Ukraine before it is humiliated further.
By demonstrating that it is capable of striking back at Russia, Ukraine is trying to silence any peace initiative that excludes its sovereignty and territorial integrity, that there is no peaceful option other than regaining its Russian-occupied territories.