Ukraine plans to continue counteroffensive despite bad weather

Anticipating the onset of bad weather, Ukraine is preparing for a further counteroffensive, and this initiative will gather strong support even in difficult weather conditions.

According to Reuters, the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, confirmed this position.

During the summer, Ukraine launched a decisive counteroffensive that led to the liberation of more than a dozen villages in the south and east over the course of three months. However, this process faces major challenges due to the presence of extensive minefields and strongly entrenched Russian troops.

"The fighting will continue regardless of the weather conditions. They may be more difficult in cold, humidity and mud, but the counteroffensive will continue," Budanov said.

This statement shows Ukraine's determination not to stop when the weather changes later this year. In addition, the West has already committed large sums of money to military equipment and training thousands of Ukrainian soldiers to support this counteroffensive.

However, the slow progress and low intensity of the counteroffensive has become a source of concern among Kyiv's allies, who are concerned about the continued support of Ukraine by its allies in the West.

"We are conducting a counteroffensive in several directions," Budanov said, acknowledging that the process is moving more slowly than desired and describing the situation as difficult.

According to Budanov, Ukraine's progress is being hampered by key factors such as the large number of Russian mines and kamikaze drones.

Vadym Skibitsky, a representative of Ukraine's military intelligence, said that Russia currently has 420,000 troops on the territory of Ukraine.

According to reports, the attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, particularly around the villages of Robotyno and Verbove, are crucial to the operation, which aims to divide the Russian occupation forces in half in the south. However, according to the publication, this process is far from complete.

In addition to the large number of Russian mines, Budanov cited a significant number of Russian "kamikaze" drones as a key factor that continued to slow down Ukraine's successful advance.

In this regard, it is important to note that U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who visited Kyiv on September 6, emphasized that the United States intends to continue to support Ukraine in its counteroffensive, as he considers the progress in this direction extremely encouraging.