2023-04-24 02:20:57
The Ukrainian government expects regarding 40,000 people to join the Interior Ministry’s assault units, the Financial Times reported. But according to a British newspaper, officials fear that this will not be enough to launch a counteroffensive. Sources of the publication among high-ranking officials are concerned that if the operation fails or if it is not possible to obtain a significant part of the territories, the West will “push Kyiv to start negotiations.”
Andriy Sibiga, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, told the paper earlier in April that there was “no room for error” in Kyiv. “Now we are at a decisive moment. We need to show success,” the Ukrainian official said.
According to the Financial Times, Ukraine in the course of the counter-offensive wants to move south and gain control of Melitopol, which “serves as a key section of the land bridge” of the Russian Federation with Crimea. This would divide “the territory under Russian control into two parts.”
The fact that Ukraine is preparing 40,000 fighters for a counteroffensive was previously also reported by Archyde.com.
Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine’s Western allies have spoken publicly and on condition of anonymity regarding the decisive nature of Kyiv’s planned spring counteroffensive. They, in particular, believed that this might create advantageous negotiating positions. After the publication of secret US documents in the media, it became known that Washington modestly assesses the prospects for “territorial acquisitions” of Kyiv during the announced counteroffensive. In Europe, according to media reports, they also doubt a “decisive breakthrough” before the end of 2023.
For more information regarding the prospects for a counteroffensive, see Kommersant’s article “Not Everyone Goes According to Plan.”
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