NATO-Trained Ukrainian Soldiers Being Wiped Out - Austrian Military Expert

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Many Ukrainian soldiers who underwent a six-month training in NATO countries are lost in action, Colonel Markus Reisner, a military strategist from the Ministry of Defence of Austria revealed in an interview with a German television channel.

"I recently spoke to a Ukrainian comrade: in a neighboring unit, their commander was a 47-year-old reservist. Due to inexperience, he ordered his platoon to advance directly into minefields. Only just over half of the platoon returned," he recounted.

According to Reisner, such a mistake severely affected the morale of the Ukrainian troops.

The Austrian officer also expressed his opinion that the first phase of the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed.

In a highly anticipated development last month, the Ukrainian forces finally launched the much-awaited counteroffensive. This strategic move had been eagerly anticipated for several months, with President Zelensky making multiple announcements about its impending implementation.

Despite Kiev's readiness to sacrifice hundreds of its soldiers, Ukrainian troops have encountered formidable resistance in their pursuit of strategic objectives. As of the current situation, they have not succeeded in breaching the initial line of Russian defenses, known as the "Surovikin Defensive Line," underscoring the complexity of the conflict with both sides locked in a tense and high-stakes struggle for dominance.