US advisor: Ukraine suffered significant losses in counterattack

The US National Security Advisor said Ukraine is suffering significant casualties, but still has many reserve forces for a major counterattack.

"The counterattack began when Ukrainian soldiers went to the front lines and risked their lives," US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington on July 21, when asked whether Kiev had actually launched its long-awaited large-scale counterattack.

"They have suffered significant casualties, many Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and wounded, so clearly this operation is ongoing and it is facing many difficulties. We have warned that it will face many challenges," Mr. Sullivan said.

However, US officials assess that Ukraine still has significant combat capabilities with many reserve brigades that have not been deployed to the front line.

A Ukrainian Bradley armored vehicle was set on fire by Russian artillery in mid-July. Photo: Telegram/Voin_Dv — A Ukrainian Bradley armored vehicle was set on fire by Russian artillery in mid-July. Photo: *Telegram/Voin_Dv*

"They're trying to time this reserve force to have maximum impact on the battlefield. We'll really see the results of the counteroffensive campaign when those brigades are in combat. The US is consulting closely with Ukraine on the conditions for doing that," Sullivan added.

Ukraine has launched a counter-offensive in early June with several NATO-trained and Western-armed brigades. Kiev has declared "partial success" in the operation, with its forces advancing daily and retaking control of several villages.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on July 17 that since the start of the operation, with weapons provided by Western allies, Kiev has regained more than 210 square kilometers of territory. The current pace of Ukraine's advance is much slower than the lightning counteroffensive last fall, when Kiev regained thousands of square kilometers of territory in just two weeks.

Ukrainian officials say they are deliberately advancing slowly to avoid casualties in the face of Russian mine-strewn defenses and are focusing on weakening their opponents' logistics and command systems.

Meanwhile, Russia said Ukraine's counter-offensive campaign had failed. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on July 11 that the Ukrainian army had lost more than 26,000 soldiers and 3,000 units of weapons after more than a month of counter-offensive, including more than 1,200 tanks and armored vehicles.

The Russia-Ukraine war situation. Graphics: WP

President Vladimir Putin said on July 21 that the West had clearly shown disappointment, while "suicide attacks caused huge losses for the Ukrainian army, up to tens of thousands of people."

"The huge resources pumped into the Ukrainian government, the shipments of Western weapons such as tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and rockets, as well as thousands of foreign mercenaries and advisers have all failed to produce any results. The whole world is watching how the supposedly invulnerable Western military equipment burns down," he said.

Vu Anh (According to Independent )

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