Welt: Zaluzhnyi strategizing for possible counteroffensive in 2024

Ukraine's military is planning a new counteroffensive: Kyiv will likely gather resources for further operations in 2024.

Welt reported this.

The publication notes that the partner countries have promised to provide Ukraine with many armored vehicles, which have not yet been used.

Some of the equipment did not reach Ukraine at all, in particular, Leopard 1 tanks. Germany and its allies undertook to provide 200 tanks of the older version, of which, according to Welt, Ukraine received only 30 units.

German security expert and political adviser Nico Lange believes Ukraine is betting on exhaustion.

"They are no longer trying to hold positions like in Bakhmut. Instead, they want to slow down the Russian forces and let them bleed," he said.

The publication declares that Ukraine has big plans. This is evidenced by the list of weapons that the Ukrainian leadership handed over to the USA. Ukraine requested from the United States new types of weapons to repel Russian attacks, including:

• modern air defense systems,
• F-18 "Hornet" fighters,
• drones,
• Apache and Black Hawk helicopters.

According to Niko Lange, Ukraine is trying to move to mobile warfare, which was never implemented during the summer counteroffensive.

Welt added that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhnyi, agreed to the summer counteroffensive only for political reasons. According to the publication, the commander-in-chief saw no chance of success without sufficient air support. Therefore, he replaced the offensive with the use of equipment for assaults by small infantry groups.

Journalists believe that without mechanized support, a quick breakthrough was impossible, so the replacement was a smart move by Zaluzhnyi. By attacking small units, he kept his soldiers, weapons, and systems from the West and won the necessary time.

"Ukraine is probably gathering resources for a new counteroffensive next year," said expert Lange.

The German publication adds that one of the directions of the offensive could become a bridgehead in the Kherson region.

"Having the necessary fighter jets, attack helicopters, and drones, Ukraine could adequately support the advance of its troops, especially since there are almost no Russian fortifications in this region. This would be a counterattack, as Zaluzhnyi probably had in mind from the beginning," the journalists added.

For reference:

In the summer of 2023, the Ukrainian military launched a counteroffensive in the south and east of the country. The Armed Forces managed to liberate more than a dozen settlements in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. But the main goal – advancing to the Sea of Azov – could not be achieved.

At the same time, against the background of considerable attention paid to this topic, some Western politicians and the media have already called the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces "slow."

It should be noted that the Ukrainian military-political leadership has repeatedly responded to such statements.

However, later, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhnyi, said that the hopes for a quick success did not come true, and instead, the war is now moving to a new stage. The military calls it "positional" warfare of static and grueling combat.

Currently, the Ukrainian military primarily focuses on active defense, launching attacks whenever feasible. Specifically, this is evident in the Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia areas.

Recently, it became known that Ukrainian soldiers recaptured one of the spoil tips from the occupiers in the Horlivka district of the Donetsk region. The fighters also managed to capture enemy positions.

In general, according to the Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the situation in the eastern direction of the front today is difficult; the occupying forces are advancing along the entire line of combat.