NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that Ukraine has the military capacity to reclaim its territory and announced that its Western partners had delivered almost all of the promised combat vehicles.

“More than 98 percent of combat vehicles promised to Ukraine have been delivered,” Stoltenberg said during a press conference he held with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

Stoltenberg recalled the surprise visit he made last week to Kyiv, repeating on Thursday that the message of the North Atlantic Alliance to Ukraine is clear: he will be with her “as long as it takes.”

“We must stay the course and continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to win,” he emphasized.

The head of NATO noted that Kyiv’s Western partners have supplied Ukraine with more than 1,550 units of armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, including “a large amount of ammunition.”

“In total, we have trained and equipped more than 9 new Ukrainian armored brigades, which will provide Ukraine with a strong position to continue the return of the occupied territories. [de Rusia]”.

Jens Stoltenberg also said that at the NATO summit to be held next month in Vilnius, the alliance aims to present a multi-year plan to support Ukraine and will continue to strengthen the defense capabilities of NATO member states.

“In a more dangerous world, we need to invest more and better in our defense,” he noted.

The prospect of a Ukrainian offensive raises fears in Russia

In its latest assessment of the conflict sparked by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year, the US Institute for the Study of War notes that statements by Russian officials and prominent voices in the Russian media space continue to underscore a pervasive concern about possible Ukrainian counteroffensive actions.

The leader of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Wednesday that as soon as the weather conditions in Bakhmut improve, Ukraine will launch a counteroffensive, which may coincide with the Russian holiday of May 9, Victory Day (commemorating the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany in 1945).

A well-known Russian military blogger also hinted that Ukraine may be planning counter-offensive actions to spoil the May 9 celebrations in Russia. The May 9 invocation suggests that the Russian information space continues to give symbolic importance to data related to the Great Patriotic War in Russia, which continues to influence the discourse on the prospects of the war.

“The growing rhetoric of despair and panic from prominent figures in the information space suggests that the Russian information space has yet to draw a line on how to overcome significant and growing fears about the immediate future,” ISW said.

“Rasputita”, called to raise the morale of Russian soldiers

Britain’s Ministry of Defense, in turn, cited Russia’s fears about the prospect of a Ukrainian offensive, saying in its assessment last Friday that propaganda from Moscow was trying to encourage Russian soldiers who fear an attack by assuring them that the weather and terrain were once again unsuitable. . their side.

According to British military analysts, the soft terrain and widespread mud are likely to slow down offensive actions by both armies involved in the conflict.

“However, Russian online channels probably exaggerate the overall impact of the dirt on Ukrainian forces as part of an information campaign aimed at boosting Russian morale and undermining support for Ukraine in anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive,” the Ministry of Defense in London said on April 21. .

He also stated that the coming weeks were likely to bring improved conditions for offensive operation, and that until then mines still remained a more important factor in limiting mechanized operations than mud.

Moreover, new footage emerging in recent days of fighting around the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast shows that the weather appears to have improved and the terrain firmer, a vital criterion for any mechanized offensive.

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