By German Ferrás Álvarez
Chief correspondent for Russia
Commander-in-Chief of Ukrainian troops Valey Zaluzny told President Vladimir Zelensky that the offensive operations ended without achieving any of the goals planned by the Slavic nation’s military command and its sponsors from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). .
Zaluzny also said that he had exhausted his reserves of ammunition, weapons and men, that he lacked defensive capability and could not continue the so-called Operation “Azov,” as they called the counteroffensive in the Zaporozhye region.
For his part, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu recently said that Ukraine’s losses in the four and a half months of the counteroffensive that began in early June, in terms of resources, exceed 543 tanks and about 18,000 vehicles of all types, including 1,500 armored vehicles.
The loss of all the materiel supplied by the Westerners for the counteroffensive resulted in the front becoming relatively static, the Ukrainians ceasing to put pressure on the Russians due to a lack of live forces, ammunition and weapons, and the recovery period beginning. For the Russian units, this was ground that they could have lost.
As military experts predicted, the so-called counteroffensive failed, and very soon, with the onset of early winter rains and “rasputitsa,” the Ukrainian advance will be no more than a dream once imagined by Kiev’s Western supporters.
Silence, reaction to NATO’s failure
This NATO failure in Ukraine occurred quietly, in contrast to the turmoil that arose long before the counteroffensive began. The truth is that it marks a complete turnaround in the war in eastern Ukraine.
However, the Ukrainian units continued to look for a new coup, even some of their military leaders announced that there would soon be talk of a massive advance, although without mentioning where and how.
And indeed the moment came and it was Ukraine’s so-called D-Day (a landing on the eastern bank of the Dnieper). This was one way to justify NATO’s spending on the conflict and to deprive Israel of some of its prominence in aid to the Western world, Military Knowledge reported.
According to analysts, the landing, like the entire counteroffensive, ended in a major disaster, similar to the British landing at Dunkirk in World War II. Without a doubt, it is an unmistakable sign of desperation.
TURNING POINT
The so-called Azov operation, which aimed to capture important cities such as Melitopol and Sevastopol and ultimately succeeded in driving the Russians from Crimea, ended up as Ukraine’s greatest military failure.
Meanwhile, the Russian army went on the offensive in the city of Avdiivka, marking a 180-degree turn on the battlefield.
Russia launched a surprise offensive in Donbass and has operationally encircled Avdiivka, turning it into a second Artiomovsk (Baymut for the Ukrainians) that will ultimately bleed out the remnants of the Kiev army.
It is the most protected area in Ukraine, with trenches, bunkers and shelters built since 2014 and over the past nine years, and represents one of the central points of Kiev’s resistance in Donbass.
Since the capture of Artiomovsk meant opening the gates of Kharkiv at that time, the capture of Avdiivka would be the gateway to the south of Donbass and especially to Zaporozhye.
A frontal attack on the city is suicide and that is why the Russians are not attacking from the front but have surrounded and operationally besieged it.
The Russian army conquered important positions at great expense, but these were heavily fortified areas. The capture of Tericon gives the Russians unbeatable firing positions against the city.
The maneuver war is about to end and a longer operation like Artiomovsk is being prepared. Both sides are betting on a war of attrition that is reaching its climax.
NO PROSPECT OF PEACE AGREEMENTS
The war continues and the possibilities for starting a peace dialogue are very limited.
Zelensky’s adviser Mikhail Podoliak said that “any scenario of a ceasefire and an end to the war in Ukraine at this point would mean a real victory for Russia and a personal triumph for Putin.”
In the current situation and despite the meager results of the counteroffensive, “there can be no negotiation process. The status quo must change on the battlefield. “That means more weapons, missiles and planes,” he said.
Podoliak defined the position expressed in Jeddah and at the G20 summit that the only basis for negotiations was President Zelensky’s formula, with the withdrawal of Russian troops to the borders of 1991, as with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the modern state Ukraine emerged from the Union.
Podoliak ruled out the possibility of reviewing the Minsk agreements reached in 2014 and 2015 to find a solution to the Donbas regions’ desire for autonomy, one of the reasons cited by Russia for launching the special military operation.
Meanwhile, information in Russia suggests greater efforts in the race to produce war weapons. President Putin ordered increased production of Russia’s Kub and Lancet kamikaze drones, manufactured by the Rostec military consortium.
Putin summed it up when he said that after “powerful” attacks by Russian drones, all military equipment, including that provided by the West, was burning.
The Russian leader also decided to increase production of “state-of-the-art weapons” such as T-90 Proryv main battle tanks and radars that can detect any drone.
According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zajárova, the solution to the conflict includes confirming Ukraine as a non-aligned and nuclear weapons-free country, as well as recognizing “the new reality” of the Ukrainian territory of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson being incorporated into the federation.
arb/gfa