Ukraine’s original counteroffensive plan had to be abandoned within four days — report
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi had to abandon the original plan for the summer counteroffensive within four days of the operation, the Washington Post reported on Dec. 4, citing senior officials familiar with the matter.
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According to the report, Ukrainian troops intended to reach the town of Velyka Novosilka in Zaporizhzhya Oblast within the first 24 hours, subsequently recapturing Melitopol to sever Russian supply routes. However, the AFU were "stunned" by the density of the minefields in the south.
“By day four, Gen. Valery Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s top commander, had seen enough,” the article reads.
“Incinerated Western military hardware — American Bradleys, German Leopard tanks, mine-sweeping vehicles — littered the battlefield. The numbers of dead and wounded sapped morale.”
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The official noted that Zaluzhnyi ordered his troops to halt the assault. Instead of attempting to break through the Russian defense with a concentrated mechanized attack and artillery support as advised by his U.S. counterparts, Zaluzhnyi decided that Ukrainian soldiers would move in small groups of about 10 infantrymen on foot. This approach was meant to save more equipment and lives but made the advance much slower.
“Months of planning with the United States was tossed aside on that fourth day, and the already delayed counteroffensive, designed to reach the Sea of Azov within two to three months, ground to a near-halt,” the report said.
Earlier, in response to a journalist's comment that the counteroffensive was not going as planned, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine "remains strong" and has been successful in countering Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
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