The Reason Ukraine Is Planning Localized Counteroffensives Now

Ukrainian forces are taking advantage of Russian disarray - reinforcement problems, logistics failures, leadership inadequacies - to destabilize and disrupt the Kremlin's plans while solidifying their own positions. JL

New Voice of Ukraine reports:

President Trump has been briefed on a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive that would require support from American intelligence, (but) "what’s being called a counteroffensive is actually what we’re already doing in Sumy Oblast and what we did on the Pokrovsk front and in certain other sectors: localized actions that disrupt Russia’s plans, freeze the line of contact and create factual stabilization."

U.S. President Donald Trump has been briefed on a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive that would require support from American intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mykhailo Zhmailo, executive director of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation and an expert on Russian hybrid warfare, was asked on Radio NV whether Ukraine’s Armed Forces are capable of launching a large-scale counteroffensive under current conditions.

 

First of all, I think there may have been sources from around Trump, and people may have simply misinterpreted the words. Maybe what’s being called a counteroffensive is actually what we’re already doing in Sumy Oblast, what we did on the Pokrovsk front, and what we’re doing in certain sectors.

 

A wide-scale counteroffensive like the one in 2023, which ended — to put it mildly — with very, very modest results...

Counteroffensive actions on specific sections of the front — that’s what we’re planning. Assault regiments are being formed, and there’s been a lot of criticism about it. So we’re exploring different options.

I believe limited, localized counteroffensive actions are possible in certain areas of the front. They could disrupt Russia’s plans and eventually help stabilize the line of contact. Deep raids or retaking large swaths of territory — I don’t think we’re talking about that right now. Our main goal is to freeze the line of contact — not through agreements, but in fact.

Achieving that kind of factual stabilization is what we need. We should be focusing not on retaking land or breaking through Russian defenses, but on stabilizing the line, halting their advance, saturating the contact zone with robotic systems and FPV drones; laying mines, stretching out lines of barbed wire — anything that can slow down the bikers, because Russia is developing motorcycle-based assault tactics. Their military schools are already training for this as a standard method for broader use in the armed forces.

And once the line of contact is effectively frozen — once the Russians are stuck and no longer advancing — then that will open a new phase for us, new arguments for the future ceasefire that everyone keeps talking about.