Global Courant
A Ukrainian soldier on a tank conducts target practice near the frontline in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on March 29, 2023.Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Getty Images
A terrifying video captures a Russian drone attack on a German-made Leopard tank below.
Russians cheered these defeats. Some believe they are signs that Ukraine’s counter-offensive has failed.
Maybe they are still disappointed. Ukraine’s counter-offensive has just begun.
Scenes from the frontline of the war in Ukraine have looked bleak lately for Ukrainian forces as their counter-offensive gains momentum, including pile-ups of damaged or destroyed tanks and combat vehicles.
A terrifying video shows a Russian loitering drone attacking a German-made Leopard 2 tank below. The hit is real, but the full damage is not shown and cannot be judged independently.
The Leopard is one of the more advanced weapons Ukraine has received from its Western backers to help retake its country from Russian invaders.
Russians celebrated.
“Some prominent Russian ultra-nationalists claimed that damaged or destroyed equipment supplied by the West indicated that Ukrainian forces had failed to launch a large-scale counter-offensive,” the paper notes. Review Friday of the Institute for the Study of War think tank, which closely monitors the conflict and the pro-Russian bloggers who shape their audience’s understanding of it.
Reports and footage of the fierce fighting come from the Zaporizhia region, where Ukraine uses some of its most powerful weapons to break through Russian lines and confront so-called dragon teeth positions to stop tanks, minefieldsrelentless artillery, electronic jamming, drones and even airstrikes.
It is not clear whether the dire scenes are coming from the fulcrum of Ukraine’s counter-offensive, which is likely to receive the most casualties if they try to penetrate up to 20 miles from Russia’s mutually reinforcing positions. As Ryan Pickrell from Insider has done reportedit is in these maelstroms where even the best vehicles can be destroyed and troops killed.
“Another Russian milblogger claimed that a counter-offensive can last only 10 to 15 days, implying that the Ukrainian counter-offensive will soon culminate,” ISW said.
Story continues
That optimism may be misplaced. The counteroffensive lasts about six days. Ukraine is advancing in the east and has made limited gains in Zaporizhia – gains that can be built on in successive waves or supported through other attacks. Russia parried some of Ukraine’s attacks, but will these prove to be the main effort?
Time will tell.
Read the original article Business Insider
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