The development of the military campaign on the battlegrounds of the Ukrainian-Russian war provokes many opinions of experts from various fields, the polarity of opinions, conclusions and assumptions is off the charts. The interview of the American political scientist John Mearsheimer on the Grayzone channel caused a noticeable resonance. He believes that the West is very afraid of losing in Ukraine, so it hastily pushes Ukraine to conduct a «suicide» offensive.
It should be understood that the world faced an unprecedented case. Currently, the vast majority of developments in military science do not work. Current challenges on the battlefield cannot be solved by standard approaches, and traditional expectations and quantitative indicators of the success of local military operations do not always reflect reality or fit into the logic of the plans of the Ukrainian political and military leadership.
It should be considered that an information war is being waged along with this. It uses all the tools and solutions available to the parties.
In such a situation, you should keep a cool mind and be able to look at events in a new way.
First of all, it should be understood that the Ukrainian counteroffensive against the Russian aggressor is a long series of operations in different places on the front, and not a one-time combat action. Currently, the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian defense forces is taking place according to a defined plan and mutually agreed stages.
The Russian army prepared for the Ukrainian counteroffensive for more than eight months and created echeloned defense structures of unprecedented sizes in the occupied regions of Ukraine.
Therefore, the task of destroying Russian artillery, rocket salvo systems, and anti-aircraft defense equipment came to the fore. Statistics, including those of independent international experts, show that the Ukrainian military performs this task very convincingly.
In addition, due to the dense mining of the temporarily occupied territories by the Russians, Ukraine needs time and an additional number of military demining systems. For more effective warfare, Ukraine needs long-range missiles and missiles, UAVs, F-16 aircraft, and air defense systems.
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression, Ukraine has proven that the Ukrainian army has achieved and even exceeded NATO standards in many respects. The Ukrainian army effectively uses Western equipment and applies creativity when breaking through Russian defenses. However, delays in the supply of weapons by the West gave Russian troops time to create a defensive line, which complicated Ukraine’s task of liberating the territory.
It should also be considered that Russian propaganda is trying to portray the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure. It exaggerates the losses of Ukraine and carefully hides the problems and losses of Russia.
Putin will never abandon the idea of occupying Ukraine. It has become his main foreign policy goal. The Russian threat can only be stopped by force. Therefore, further support of Ukraine in the counteroffensive will make it possible to finally knock out the Russian army from Ukrainian territory. In the Euro-Atlantic space, there is a full understanding that Russia is the main threat. Therefore, reducing its military potential is a strategic common interest of Ukraine and its Western partners.