Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the newspaper that his country was forming brigades for "new counteroffensive and defensive operations," but Western military strategists reportedly said it was rather shifting to defensive positions, which, in particular, could be confirmed by Ukrainian troops digging trenches near Lyman.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive began on June 4. Kiev has thrown into battle brigades trained by NATO instructors and armed with Western equipment, including Leopard and Challenger tanks.
Three months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Kiev's push had failed, with Ukraine suffering severe casualties. Several Western officials also admitted that the Ukrainian counteroffensive had not been successful so far.
On November 1, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in an interview with the Economist that Kiev's counteroffensive had reached a "stalemate."