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Ukraine’s counteroffensive has already cost it more than a dozen Bradley fighting vehicles provided by Washington, the New York Times has reported, citing anonymous US officials. Since Kiev began its operation at the start of June, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed its forces have destroyed dozens of Ukrainian armored vehicles and tanks, including Western-made ones.
According to an article published by the NYT on Monday, 17 of the 113 Bradleys supplied to Ukraine by the US have been damaged or destroyed.
Particularly dangerous for advancing Ukrainian troops are extensive Russian minefields, the paper explained. The flat, open terrain in southeastern Ukraine is making the counteroffensive an arduous undertaking as Ukrainian troops effectively have nowhere to take cover.
The NYT claimed that Russian KA-52 attack helicopters pose an additional threat as they have reportedly managed to conduct missile strikes from outside the range of Ukrainian air defense.
As a result, the Ukrainian counteroffensive has ground to a halt in some areas, with soldiers reassessing their tactics, the newspaper claimed. Kiev’s forces have thus far managed to cover less than half the distance to Russia’s main line of defense, the report added.
Ukrainian service members told reporters that the Russians had “dug in, they mined, they are ready.”
“Given what the guys are saying, it’s not going as well as they show on TV,” a medic acknowledged.
Meanwhile, officials in Kiev, including President Vladimir Zelensky, have attempted to reassure the public that the main battles are still ahead.
While Kiev’s backers in the US are publicly calling for patience, one anonymous official told the NYT that the underwhelming results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive have been “sobering.”
“They are behind schedule,” the senior administration official conceded, speaking privately to journalists.
However, unnamed officials also insisted that given the extensive Russian defenses, the slow pace of the Ukrainian advance was predictable, claiming it was still too early to draw any broad conclusions.
Since the start of June, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed on several occasions that its troops have destroyed Western-supplied military hardware, with Ukraine losing thousands of service members in the process.
Moscow has released video clips apparently showing its troops destroying a German-made Leopard tank, French AMX-10 light tanks, and other vehicles.
CNN reported that 16 of the 109 US armored vehicles were destroyed, damaged or abandoned recently. Analysts say that given the scale of the war and the length of the frontline, such losses were well expected. According to the Dutch portal Oryx, the Ukrainian military has lost at least 3,600 pieces of military equipment since February 2022.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian army has been making unsuccessful offensive attempts since June 4. On June 22, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said that Ukraine’s losses in manpower since the start of the counteroffensive campaign had exceeded 13,000. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the Ukrainian army had no success in any direction.
According to Bloomberg, the West admits that Ukraine has sustained significant losses. At the same time, the Politico newspaper quoted Washington administration officials as saying that further assistance to Kiev would depend on the success of the counterattack.
Watch Russian Iskander Ballistic Missile System Send 'Special Delivery' to Ukrainian Forces
The Ukrainian conflict has, among other things, highlighted the formidable might and destructive power of the Russian artillery and ballistic missile systems, which have inflicted significant damage upon Kiev regime forces.
No matter how many air defense systems the US and its allies supply to Kiev, Russian ballistic missiles continue to rain upon strategic targets deep in the territory controlled by Zelensky’s regime.
A short video released online by Russia’s Ministry of Defense shows one of the Russian Iskander mobile ballistic missile systems in action.
In the footage, the Iskander missile system can be seen emerging from a concealed position and moving to a designated launch area.
Upon arrival, the missile launcher’s crew quickly finishes all the necessary preparations, to unload their deadly payload once the order is given.
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