Now some reality beginning to be reported in the Mainstream Media about Ukraine. The vaunted Ukrainian “Counteroffensive” is apparently not going so well, after being touted for months by Joe Biden and others. It is a total stalemate with Russia in the East, with little chance of a major change before Winter. U.S. Public support for continuing to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into Ukraine is fading, with now more Americans opposing it than supporting it. It’s time to end the carnage there. It will only happen when the U.S. makes it clear to Zelensky that the money train is going to end. If these are the assessments being shared publicly – how bad must they actually be?
Weeks into Ukraine’s highly anticipated counteroffensive, Western officials describe increasingly “sobering” assessments about Ukrainian forces’ ability to retake significant territory, four senior US and western officials briefed on the latest intelligence told CNN.
“They’re still going to see, for the next couple of weeks, if there is a chance of making some progress. But for them to really make progress that would change the balance of this conflict, I think, it’s extremely, highly unlikely,” a senior western diplomat told CNN.
“Our briefings are sobering. We’re reminded of the challenges they face,” said Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who recently returned from meetings in Europe with US commanders training Ukrainian armored forces. “This is the most difficult time of the war.”
The primary challenge for Ukrainian forces is the continued difficulty of breaking through Russia’s multi-layered defensive lines in the eastern and southern parts of the country, which are marked by tens of thousands of mines and vast networks of trenches. Ukrainian forces have incurred staggering losses there, leading Ukrainian commanders to hold back some units to regroup and reduce casualties.
“Russians have a number of defensive lines and they [Ukrainian forces] haven’t really gone through the first line,” said a senior Western diplomat. “Even if they would keep on fighting for the next several weeks, if they haven’t been able to make more breakthroughs throughout these last seven, eight weeks, what is the likelihood that they will suddenly, with more depleted forces, make them? Because the conditions are so hard.”. . . . .
CNN