Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, defended Ukraine’s progress in the counteroffensive, CNN reports.

He claimed that before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military was “hysterically afraid and did not even imagine that they could be effectively fought.”

“In order to finally dispel another myth, which even yesterday they were afraid to think about, everyone needs to be patient and carefully monitor the qualitative activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In any case, they will reach a mandatory and correct conclusion. Russia will cease to exist as a military threat after the war in Ukraine. At least for Ukraine and Europe. Meanwhile…offensive operations continue,” he wrote on Twitter.

In a video released Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said the counteroffensive was not easy and “probably slower” than some had hoped.

Western allies are receiving increasingly gloomy information about the offensive in Ukraine

His comments came after CNN reported that Western officials were describing increasingly “gloomy” assessments of Ukrainian forces’ ability to retake significant territory as they try to break through Russia’s multi-layered defense lines, according to some senior US and Western officials familiar with the latest information .

“In the next two weeks they will continue to see if there is a chance to make progress. But for them to really make progress that would change the balance of this conflict, I think it’s extremely, extremely unlikely,” a senior Western diplomat told CNN.

“The information we have gives us food for thought. We are reminded of the challenges they face,” said Congressman Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, who recently returned from a meeting in Europe with American commanders training Ukrainian armored forces.

“This is the most difficult moment of the war,” says the congressman.

The main challenge for the Ukrainian troops is the further difficulty of breaking through the multi-layered Russian defense lines in the east and south of the country, which are marked by tens of thousands of mines and a huge network of trenches.

Ukrainian forces suffered huge losses there, which forced the Ukrainian command to hold back some units in order to regroup and reduce losses.

“The Russians have several lines of defense and they (the Ukrainians) haven’t really crossed the first,” said a senior Western diplomat. “Even if they continue to fight for the next few weeks, if they haven’t been able to make much progress in these last seven or eight weeks, what is the likelihood that they will suddenly do so, with more depleted forces? Because the conditions are extremely difficult,” the diplomat emphasizes.

The arrival of autumn will complicate the Ukrainian offensive

A high-ranking American official said that the United States recognizes the difficulties faced by Ukrainian forces, although it remains hopeful for further progress.

“We all recognize that this is happening more difficult and slower than anyone, including Ukrainians, would like, but we still believe that there is time and space for progress,” this official said.

On the other hand, some officials say the approach of fall, when weather and fighting conditions are expected to worsen, gives Ukrainian forces a limited window to advance.

In addition, Western officials say the slow progress has highlighted the difficulty of transforming Ukrainian forces into combined mechanized combat units, sometimes with only eight weeks of training on tanks and other new weapons systems provided by the West.

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