TWO DIMENSIONS OF WAR IN UKRAINE: BATTLEFIELD AND ZELENSKYS TALES

For several weeks now, Kiev officials have been proudly declaring that everything was ready for a large-scale offensive, while their Western friends are reporting on the military equipment transferred to Ukraine. All British Challenger tanks promised to Kiev are already in Ukraine, as well as the recently declared long-range MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Earlier, London reported the transfer of depleted uranium munitions, renouncing obligations to eliminate the consequences of their use by the Ukrainian military. In its turn, Warsaw reported that the West handed over 28 aircraft to Kiev, of which 14 were allocated by Poland, and 575 tanks, including 325 Polish ones. However, Zelensky reiterated that this was not enough, and the counteroffensive was allegedly postponed. The Ukrainian military is waiting for additional military supplies. The Kiev regime, which has always been using soldiers as cannon fodder to slow down the Russian advance, suddenly worried about the heavy losses during the upcoming offensive operations. Zelensky’s statements as usual have nothing to do with the situation on the battlefield. In fact, the Russian military did not give much weight to the statements of the Ukrainian comedian. Assessing the situation at the front, his interview was largely considered as a propaganda operation aimed at misleading the Russians. Indeed, the situation on the front lines has recently escalated. The Kiev regime has launched offensive operations to encircle Russian forces in Bakhmut. It attempts to strike at the Russian flanks and reach the rear of Wagner’s grouping in the city. At the moment, they have achieved some tactical success north of Bogdanovka, west of Khromovo and west of Klescheevka. Several Ukrainian armored groups attempted to break through Russian defense near Soledar. However, the offensive operations did not involve the Ukrainian army reserves, recently trained by NATO and armed with new NATO equipment. The recent attacks were launched by small groups, which signals more a successful combat reconnaissance rather than a large-scale offensive. At the same time, Russian forces thwarted Ukrainian attempt to advance near Mayorsk in the Gorlovka area. Ukrainian forces also reportedly attempted another offensive near Ugledar. In the Zaporozhye, Kherson and Lugansk directions, the Ukrainian military is accumulating forces. Another escalation is expected in the Orekhov and Gulyai-Pole areas. The Ukrainian army is hiding the main direction of the offensive with a series of small attacks. They are yet to achieve any strategically important victories; but the main talking head of Ukraine, Zelensky, is already celebrating their success. The most likely drugged Ukrainian president appealed to his people with an incoherent speech and congratulated the Ukrainian military on the great victories that had not yet taken place.