Kiev thought its forces could blockade the city of Melitopol within 15 days, according to Valery Gerasimov
Ukrainian military planners expected swift progress in their summer counteroffensive, culminating in the so-called “land bridge to Crimea” being cut, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian general staff, said on Thursday. He added that the attempt has been thwarted by Russian forces.
The senior official briefed foreign military attaches in Moscow on various aspects of Russian actions, including those taken to stop the Ukrainian operation, which he said was the top priority for the country this year. “The enemy plan was to blockade Melitopol by the end of the 15th day of the offensive,” Gerasimov said. The Ukrainians then planned to advance towards the Sea of Azov, the city of Mariupol, and the border of Crimea, he added.
Melitopol is a large city in Zaporozhye Region, located some 40 km away from the coast of the Azov Sea and about 15 km away from Molochnyi Lyman, a large body of water connected with it.
Gerasimov noted that the core of the Ukrainian force used in the counteroffensive consisted of brigades trained and armed by Western nations. The grouping that was supposed to reach the Azov Sea initially included 50 battalions armed with over 230 tanks and more than 1,000 infantry fighting vehicles, half of them Western-made, he reported. The force was later boosted to 80 battalions, according to the general.
Russian troops prepared deep defensive lines to prepare for the planned offensive. When Ukraine launched it on June 4, it “achieved minor advancement at the cost of colossal losses,” failing to breach “even the tactical zone of our defenses,” he stressed.
Additional supplies of Western weapons and the deployment of strategic reserves by Kiev failed to turn the tide, Gerasimov added. “Hence, the counteroffensive, which Ukraine and its NATO allies had touted widely, failed,” the general stated.
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