According to the Institute for the Study of War, on Sunday, Kyiv troops continued their counteroffensive in at least four sections of the front line and achieved small territorial gains. However, the head of the Intelligence Center of the Estonian Defense Forces, Colonel Margo Grosberg, believes that the Ukrainian army is taking a break to review the tactics of future operations.

Geolocation images indicate that Ukrainian forces have made limited progress within 30 km south of Kreminnaya, ISW said.

The head of the military administration of Avdiyivka, Vitaliy Barabas, said that over the past two weeks, Ukrainian troops have advanced more than a kilometer north of Avdiivka, on the front line in the city of Donetsk.

Russian sources reported that Ukrainian troops conducted counteroffensive operations to the south, southwest, and southeast of Velika Novosilka, on the administrative border between the western Donetsk region and the eastern Zaporizhia region, and also carried out some local offensives.

Ukrainian troops allegedly entered a village in Zaporozhye

Ukrainian troops continued counteroffensive actions in the west of the Zaporizhzhia region, and geolocation images show that Ukrainian troops entered the western part of the village of Petikhatky, located 41 km southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia.

The spokesman of the Tavry group of Ukrainian troops, Captain Valery Shersen, said that Russian troops continue counterattacks in the west of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, and Ukrainian troops have “a lot of work to do.”

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said that Russian troops continue to transfer personnel and heavy military equipment from the districts of Novaya Kakhovka and Kakhovka in the east of the Kherson region to the front line in the Zaporizhia region through Melitopol.

Ukrainian troops may temporarily suspend counteroffensive operations in order to review the tactics of future operations.

However, the head of the intelligence center of the Estonian Defense Forces, Colonel Margo Grosberg, said on Friday that, in his opinion, “we will not see an offensive in the next seven days”.

The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Ukrainian forces have “largely halted their advance in recent days” as the Ukrainian command reviews its tactics.

An operational pause does not mean the end of the counteroffensive

This information is consistent with ISW’s recent observations of the scale and approach of Ukrainian counterattacks in southern and eastern Ukraine.

ISW notes that it has previously observed that Ukraine has not yet committed most of its available forces to counteroffensive operations and has not yet begun its main effort.

Operational pauses are a common feature of major offensive operations, and this pause does not mean the end of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Colonel Grosberg emphasized that the Ukrainian troops are conducting the preliminary stage of the offensive operation, the purpose of which is to identify the weak points of the Russian defense.

Ukrainian troops have the initiative

“It is clear that the initiative is in the hands of Ukrainian forces, which means that they themselves choose the time, place and means by which they intend to attack enemy units, as far as their offensive capabilities allow,” said a senior Estonian military official. , who does not believe that the Ukrainian offensive will “stop”, reports Agerpres.

“Russia spent nine months building defensive lines…According to the well-known doctrine, the attacking side needs a numerical advantage of three to one in personnel and weapons. Unfortunately, Ukrainians do not have such an advantage now. The power ratio is currently one to one. Therefore, in order not to risk too much, the Ukrainians approach the offensive more methodically, more cautiously and more calmly, because for them both human and technical resources are worth the price of gold,” explained the head of military intelligence of Estonia. .

Instead, Ukrainian officials, such as Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, confirmed that counteroffensive operations were ongoing. And soldiers of the 81st and 57th brigades told the Kyiv Independent that Ukrainian troops are moving, slowly advancing towards Russian forces in the Donetsk region.

How much Western equipment Ukraine has lost since the beginning of the counteroffensive

The Ukrainian army lost less than 10% of Western equipment in the fight against the Russian invaders, said the intelligence commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, Colonel Margo Grosberg, in an interview with the Estonian news channel ERR, Novyy Golos Ukrainy reports.

He noted that this figure may increase, as the loss of equipment is an inevitable consequence of any offensive action.

Grosberg emphasized the superior protection that Western equipment provides to soldiers, often allowing crews to survive and avoid serious injury even when the equipment becomes inoperable.

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