Ukrainian army has conducted counterattack operations in at least three areas of the front within 24 hours with mixed results, the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has concluded.
ISW said in a report published on Thursday, the 8th of June that these operations are part of a broader counterattack effort that has been ongoing since the 4th of June.
Ukrainian officials reported that
Ukrainian forces have switched from defense to offensive towards Bakhmut, and have advanced even by two kilometers in some places.
The Ukrainian army carried out a limited but significant offensive in the west of the Zaporizhzhia region overnight on the 8th of June. At the same time, Russian forces put up fierce resistance and regained their original positions.
Among the losses are Western-supplied military vehicles.
The ISW report notes that Ukraine’s attacks in western Zaporizhzhia do not reflect the full extent of Ukraine’s capabilities in the current counteroffensive. The report also says that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is likely to consist of many measures of various scales, including localized attacks.
Ukraine has reportedly made 12 special counterattack brigades.
Experts believe that Ukraine has so far engaged only a part of the large reserves of forces available to it for counterattack operations.
In addition, it must be kept in mind that the troops of the Russian Southern Military District deployed in this particular area are likely to be more capable than Russian formations in other war zones, and their defensive power is unlikely to reflect the defensive capabilities of Russian formations in other areas of the front.
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