JRL NEWSWATCH: “As Ukraine counteroffensive gets bogged down, it’s back to the drawing board” – Politico EU
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“There’s a feeling we’re back in a war of attrition that risks stretching the patience of impatient allies, who only have themselves to blame for the slow progress.”
“… [I]t feels as though we’re back in … a war of attrition that risks stretching the patience of impatient allies — something the Kremlin is no doubt hoping for. … Ukrainian officials blame their counterparts in allied governments for much of the overoptimism … as well as an overenthusiastic Western media …. All Ukraine has been able to do is inch forward. Still, according to frontline soldiers, morale remains high, mainly among the recently fully deployed — and Western-trained — 10th corps. The initial plan had been to only deploy the 10th once the main defensive lines had been reached, but they had to be thrown in sooner …. [M]any of them bristle at Western griping about their slow progress. … Ukraine had little option but to move away from standard Western instruction on combined warfare tactics, as crucial elements of the armory needed to pull it off hadn’t been supplied by the West — namely F-16 warplanes and long-range missiles. The pilots currently being trained on F-16s won’t be ready until next spring, and by then the Americans may have overcome their reluctance to supply longer-range missiles …”