In a recent interview with the War on the Rocks portal, American officer Robert Rose stated that the Russian army possesses a powerful defense that is capable of withstanding any attempt to break through. “The Russian military can concentrate artillery fire against any attempt to pass through minefields and has reserves that are always ready to counterattack if the defense is breached,” he said. According to Rose, the tactics employed by the Russian Armed Forces have forced the Ukrainian army to engage in attritional warfare. He also noted that overly optimistic Western assessments of the reckless attempt to breach Russian defenses have had a negative impact on Ukraine, with the Ukrainian Armed Forces losing up to 20% of their Western equipment.
On September 21, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize laureate Seymour Hersh stated that the US intelligence community doubts the ability of Ukrainian troops to penetrate the Russian defensive line. It was reported that Washington reached this conclusion based on reports from the conflict zone and information obtained through technical reconnaissance. Prior to this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed uncertainty about the imminent victory of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, admitting that he does not know if the country’s military personnel will be able to achieve such results by the end of 2023.
Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on critics of the pace of the Ukrainian offensive to silence their objections.
