The Ukrainian counteroffensive has run out of steam and the so-called mud season will not let Kiev score more success until next spring, UK political scientist Mark Galeotti has written in his article for the Times.
"The exhausted Ukrainian troops are suffering heavy losses, despite desperate attempts to minimize them," the analyst said.
Galeotti recalled in this regard that Western efforts to increase arms production are lagging behind Kiev’s demands, with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitting that the EU will not be able to fulfill its target of providing Ukraine with a million artillery shells and missiles by March 2024.
Since the beginning of June, Ukrainian troops have unsuccessfully tried to break through Russian defensive lines in the Zaporozhye, Yuzhnodonetsk and Artemovsk (Bakhmut) areas as they used combat units trained by NATO instructors and armed with Western military equipment, including the much-hyped German-made Leopard tanks and the US-made Bradley armored vehicles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that Kiev's troops had failed to achieve tangible results on any sector of the frontline, calling Kiev’s counteroffensive "a failure rather than a stalemate."
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost more than 90,000 soldiers, almost 600 tanks and 1,900 armored vehicles since the start of the counteroffensive on June 4.
Shoigu underscored that the Russian military "will continue to methodically and confidently carry out their assigned tasks and ensure the safety of civilians" in the special military operation zone.
Shortly after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, the United States and its allies stepped up their military support to Kiev. Moscow has repeatedly warned that NATO countries are "playing with fire" by supplying arms to Ukraine, which the Kremlin said adds to prolonging the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has emphasized that any shipment of weapons to Kiev would be considered a legitimate target for Russian forces.