Kiev admits results of 5-month counter-offensive, declares new victory in Crimea

On November 10, the Ukrainian President's Chief of Staff, Mikhail Podolyak, said that the country's army needs to review its tactics and strategy, and he admitted that the five-month counterattack has not brought about the expected results.

(08.29) Tàu Nga phóng tên lửa từ Biển Đen để tiêu diệt toa tàu chứa đạn dược của Ukraine. (Nguồn: TASS)

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Kiev claims its navy's UAV attacked and sank two small Russian landing ships in Crimea. In the photo: A Russian ship launched a missile from the Black Sea to destroy a Ukrainian ammunition train. (Source: TASS)

“We in 2024 and at the end of 2023 understand very well what is needed. First: a slight adjustment in tactics… A slight adjustment in strategy, taking into account the overwhelming advantages that Russia has,” Podolyak said in an interview with the Ukrainian -language German newspaper Deutsche Welle.

Mr. Podolyak admitted that the results of the five-month-long efforts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU) were less than expected. At the same time, according to Mr. Podolyak, “offensive operations in some directions have not yet been completed.”

In early November, VSU Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhny said in an interview with The Economist magazine that the conflict in Ukraine had reached a dead end and that the Ukrainian army was currently unable to achieve a breakthrough.

According to Mr. Zaluzhny, attrition conflicts are dangerous because they can last for years and exhaust the Ukrainian state.

* On November 10, Ukraine's military intelligence agency announced that its navy's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attacked and sank two small Russian landing ships in Crimea.

Initial information from military intelligence said that two small Russian landing ships were attacked on the evening of November 10.

A later update confirmed that Ukrainian naval UAVs had attacked two ships in the Vuzka Bay, west of the Crimean peninsula, one of which was an Akula-class landing ship and the other a Serna-class one.

The intelligence said: “The results of reconnaissance conducted on November 10, 2023, near the Vuzka Bay in Crimea showed that after an attack by a naval UAV, two small Russian landing ships were destroyed. As a result, both ships sank, the Akula sank immediately and the Serna sank after rescue efforts.”

According to the Ukrainian military, the ships were crewed and loaded with armored vehicles.

Meanwhile, Russia's RIA news agency quoted the country's Defense Ministry as saying that Russian air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian UAVs, one in Smolensk and one in the Tula region south of Moscow, on the night of November 10.

The Russian Defense Ministry's announcement posted on Telegram said the incidents occurred at around 11 p.m. on November 10 local time.

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