Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky played coy about when a spring counteroffensive against Russian forces would start, saying Kiev was still waiting for new weapons from the U.S. and NATO, including tanks, armored personnel carriers an medium range missiles used in its HIMARS mobile weapons systems. But Zelensky’s forces have mounted ongoing military operations in Bakhmut, where classified disclosures by 21-year-old now incarcerated Pentagon leader Jack Teixeira indicated that Kiev burned through massive amounts of munitions and military personnel. So, all the talk about a new counteroffensive seems to be Zelensky’s way to lending false hope to Washington elected officials thinking that Kiev will actually make progress in its war against the Russian Federation. President Joe Biden, 80, spends over $200 billion on a destructive proxy war against the Kremlin.
Losing Bakhmut to Russian forces May 21, the Pentagon claimed victory for Ukraine’s armed forces, claiming they’ve succeeded in degrading the Russian military, wearing out the army over the 10-moth fight to seize the bombed out city. But however Washington and Kiev spin the loss of Bakhmut, it was another Russian victory in a long line of failures for the beleaguered Ukainian military. Whatever Bakhmut represents to Russia or Ukraine, U.S. elected officials must face reality that there’s no military solution to the Ukraine War. Zelensky claims a spring counteroffensive has not yet begun because he doesn’t want his American benefactors to get disillusioned with the lack of progress reclaiming lost territory. “We will further be preparing for the counteroffensive,” said Ihor Zhovikva, Zelensky’s deputy chief of staff of foreign affairs, explaining any delays.
Zelensky gives the illusion that the counteroffensive hasn’t yet begun because he has nothing to show for it. Daily reports of Ukraine seizing more territory or Russia abandoning positions, allowing Ukrainian troops to advance on prior Russian positions, indicate that Kiev’s military operations have been ongoing. Russia has dug in its positions across the 1,500 kilometer [932 mile] border with Ukraine, leaving Russian forces in defensive positions defending seized territory. Even after the fall of Bakhmut to Russian forces, Ukraine’s information chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed that Kiev’s forces were encircling Bakhmut and would eventually take back the city. Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said the 10-month long Bakhmut operation was a success because Kiev’s military wore down the Russian army. Kiev doesn’t disclose Ukrainian casualties or losses of military hardware.
When it comes to Zelensky’s counteroffensive, it’s clear that its already started in many places with varying degrees of success. Showing how it’s difficult for Zelensky to keep all his lieutenants on the same page, Mykhailo Podolyak told Italy’s Rai TV that the counteroffensive had already begun. Podolvak said the counteroffensive won’t be a “single event” but consist of “dozens of different actions.” Zelensky won’t admit to Washington that the counteroffensive has already begun because, whatever new weapons Kiev received from the U.S. and NATO, they haven’t made much difference on the battlefield. Zelensky’s failed progress to reclaim lost sovereign territory indicates the Ukraine War is stalemated, with neither side making much progress. Zelensky’s recent push for F-16 fighter jets indicates that Kiev needs more lethal weapons to make any progress against Russian forces.
Biden’s decision at the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan to approve F-16 fighter jet training for Ukrainian pilots indicates that the war has not gone as expected. Biden funds Ukraine war against the Kremlin, continues to say how much progress Ukraine has made to reclaim its lost sovereign territory. If Zelensky’s counteroffensive has been ongoing for sometime, there’s little evidence that it’s making much difference in achieving Kiev’s stated objective of ousting Russia from Ukrainian territory. Facing a reelection fight, Biden can’t admit his proxy war against the Kremlin has failed. Biden turned decades of détente with Russia into a war with the Kremlin, undermining U.S.-Russian relations. Gone are the days when Russia and the U.S. could cooperate on global affairs, especially on hot spots like Iran and North Korea. Biden’s proxy war against the Kremlin has destroyed Ukraine’s economy, showing no signs to ending.
Zelensky keeps making excuses why all the lethal weapons from the U.S. and NATO haven’t changed things on the battlefield. Adding F-16 is another desperate attempt to make progress on the battlefield. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Ukraine’s military, with U.S. and NATO weapons, won’t be able to defeat the Russian military. “Maybe I missed something, but maybe the prime minister became a very good military expert,” said Zhovikva, Zelensky’s biggest fear is not Russia but that the U.S. would stop funding his war against the Kremlin. More excuses occur daily why Kiev doesn’t ever have enough weapons from the U.S. and NATO to prosecute its war against he Kremlin. Everything points to Ukraine already starting its counteroffensive and making very little progress to oust Russia from Ukraine’s sovereign territory, proving the war is stalemated.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
