Ukrainian Counteroffensive: West Reportedly Admits Kiev Ejecting Russians ‘Highly Unlikely’

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier said that Kiev had certainly kicked off its much-awaited offensive but that thus far, the advance had failed with heavy casualties for the Ukrainian troops.

With Kiev’s counteroffensive against Russian forces already under way, US and European officials privately “concede that pushing all of Russia’s forces out of Ukrainian land is highly unlikely,” an American newspaper has reported.

The newspaper added that it also remains unclear “exactly what the United States, Europe and Ukraine view as a ‘successful’ counteroffensive” by Kiev.

According to the paper, “still, two themes emerge as clear ideas of ‘success’: that the Ukrainian army retake and hold on to key swaths of territory” that were earlier seized “by the Russians, and that Kiev deal the Russian military a debilitating blow that forces the Kremlin to question the future of its military options in Ukraine.”

The media outlet claimed that a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive “is easier to measure” and that if Kiev fails to recapture “a significant city, some officials in allied capitals or Congress will likely raise doubts about the war, especially if Ukrainians lose too many troops and a lot of equipment is destroyed.”

The newspaper also admitted in this vein that Russian forces are “beginning to get better [of Ukrainian troops] — they are improving their tactics and practicing better defensive operations.” The news outlet underscored that “war always favors the defenders, something the entrenched Russians may be able to use to their advantage during Ukraine’s counterattack.”

The claims come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that his country's much-anticipated counteroffensive and “defensive actions are taking place." He, however, declined to elaborate on which stage or state the counteroffensive was in.

This followed Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing that Kiev's use of strategic reserves during recent attacks means it can be "stated with absolute certainty" that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has started. He stressed that so far, Ukrainian forces have failed to achieve their objectives and that their advance-related plans have been thwarted by Russian troops.

At the same time, Putin warned that despite all these setbacks suffered by the Ukrainian forces, the offensive potential of the troops loyal to Kiev has not yet been depleted.

"As to whether the [counteroffensive has got] bogged down or not, it’s safe to say that all counteroffensive attempts made so far have failed. But the offensive potential of the troops of the Kiev regime still remains," the Russian president pointed out.

The remarks were preceded by Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu saying in a statement that up to 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers and 150 armored vehicles attempted to break through the Russian defense lines in the Zaporozhye direction on Wednesday night as part of Kiev’s apparent efforts to launch a counteroffensive.

According to Shoigu, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost up to 350 soldiers, as well as 30 tanks and 11 infantry fighting vehicles as a result of a two-hour battle.

US media earlier mentioned the beginning of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in "several directions", something that the news outlets reported saw the AFU suffering "stiff resistance" and losses in men and materiel.