Elena Buturlim18:56, 01/09/24

Ukraine asked the US for additional weapons for an offensive in the Zaporozhye region, but Washington urged Kyiv to focus on another target for the offensive.

In the summer of 2023, a counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops crashed against Russian defenses in southern Ukraine. The offensive took place a year later than the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny wanted, writes Business Insider with reference to the book “Our Enemies Will Disappear” by the Wall Street Journal’s chief foreign affairs correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov.

“If this had happened when he wanted, it could have changed the course of the war, for better or for worse… Zaluzhny insisted on a bold and, according to some observations, risky counter-offensive in 2022, which never took place,” – quotes the publication of the book.

It is noted that the plan, advocated by President Vladimir Zelensky and General Zaluzhny, provided for a breakthrough through part of the Zaporozhye region in order to break the so-called “land corridor” and isolate Russian troops in Crimea. At that time, Russia had not yet built large minefields and fortifications that would prevent a counteroffensive in 2023.

“Such an approach would still be a challenge and a risky gamble… But if the Ukrainian move worked, it could allow the Ukrainians to take advantage of their momentum from the Battle of Kiev and Russian losses elsewhere and deprive Moscow of its biggest prize in the war.” , writes the author.

According to him, Ukraine asked the United States for only 90 additional howitzers and a sufficient amount of artillery ammunition. There is a possibility that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could achieve something similar to what they did in the Kharkov region in September 2022, when they recaptured thousands of square kilometers of territory.

However, the correspondent emphasizes that when the planning took place, Ukraine had not yet demonstrated any offensive capabilities, and American officials were wary. From the US point of view, “failure was probable, and its consequences potentially catastrophic.” This could lead to a strategic defeat, as a result of which Russia could capture the rest of the Zaporozhye region, and then the Dnieper.

So the US pushed Ukraine to focus on another target for its southern counteroffensive: Kherson. This was a safer option, and the rates were lower, Trofimov points out.

A senior Pentagon official told the journalist that Zaluzhny did not agree. The general argued that Ukraine “must attack where it must, and not where it can.” But the United States controlled most of the military aid, “so there was little debate – Kherson was chosen.”

“Zaluzhny wanted to carry out a high-risk, high-reward offensive in 2022. However, this never happened, and it is impossible to know for sure how it might have ended,” the correspondent adds.

Ultimately, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the Zaporozhye direction in the fall of 2023. And this time Russia was more prepared. The plan was to break through the original defense line and expand the area to allow Western armored vehicles to penetrate into the occupied territory, but this did not work, the newspaper writes.

The part of the book that discusses plans for a 2022 counteroffensive talks about an element of the war that has received much criticism: the hesitation of Ukraine’s Western partners to take bold action and provide powerful weapons, despite the potential cost.

Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023

The commander of the operational-strategic group of troops “Tavria”, Brigadier General Alexander Tarnavsky commented on the results of the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that began in the summer. He emphasized that the enemy had prepared the defense well.

The explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station dam on June 6 delayed the crossing of Ukrainian Armed Forces forces across the Dnieper River, which was supposed to support counter-offensive operations on other sectors of the front.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny is convinced that the 2024th military year will be different from the previous one. He stated that what is being done is to ensure that 2024 is not similar to 2023 in the conduct of war.

Earlier, UNIAN wrote that to liberate the occupied territories and reach the 1991 borders, Ukraine will need a number of shells that is comparable to the reserves of NATO member countries and their partners combined.

(C)UNIAN 2024