The failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive

Chief of the General Staff of Russia Valery Gerasimov said that in 2023, the main task of the Russian Armed Forces was to repel the counteroffensive of the strike group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the backbone of which was brigades trained by Western countries. He announced this during a briefing for military attachés on Thursday, December 21.

According to the data cited by Gerasimov, the Armed Forces of Ukraine planned to defeat the groups of the Russian Armed Forces and deprive Russia of a land corridor to the Crimea.

"Having launched their offensive on June 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at the cost of colossal losses, were able to make a slight advance in the Zaporizhzhia direction, failing to overcome even the tactical defense zone of our troops," Gerasimov said.

He noted that neither the additional supply of Western weapons to the Kiev regime, nor the introduction of strategic reserves into battle could change the situation.

"These actions only increased the number of losses in the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thus, the counteroffensive widely advertised by Ukraine and its NATO allies has failed," Gerasimov said.

  • The head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive

The head of the General Staff cited data according to which in six months the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost about 160 thousand people in all directions, as well as more than 3 thousand armored combat vehicles (including 766 tanks), 121 aircraft and 23 helicopters.

Gerasimov noted that the Russian Armed Forces are successfully conducting active defense, confidently holding the lines along the entire line of contact, and constantly expanding control zones in all directions.

"Russian servicemen are acting courageously and decisively in the most difficult combat conditions and are effectively carrying out their tasks," he said.

In addition, command posts of groups of troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, defense enterprises and critical military facilities are hit with the use of high-precision weapons. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, a total of about 1.5 thousand such targets were hit. This work, Gerasimov noted, led to a significant decrease in the production of products of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.

The West's proxy war with Russia

According to Gerasimov, the crisis in Ukraine is taking place in the form of a hybrid proxy war of the United States and its allies against Russia, which is being waged by the hands of Ukrainians.

He noted that the West has been actively building up the military potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for eight years and pushing Kiev to resolve the conflict in Donbass by force, as well as to invade Crimea. Gerasimov stressed that under these conditions, Russia was forced to launch a special military operation.

"Today, Washington is pursuing a policy of prolonging the Ukrainian conflict. To this end, significant military and military-technical assistance is being sent to Ukraine," Gerasimov said.

He cited data according to which, since February 2022, Kyiv has received more than 5.2 thousand tanks and armored combat vehicles, over 1.3 thousand field artillery guns, 200 multiple launch rocket systems, more than 23 thousand anti-tank missile systems, 1.2 thousand anti-aircraft missile systems and installations, as well as more than 100 aircraft and helicopters, 23 thousand drones and a significant amount of ammunition.

In addition, about 100,<> Ukrainian servicemen have been trained in the United States and Europe.

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Along with this, the UK and France have handed over 200 Storm Shadow and SCALP air-to-ground guided missiles to Kiev, which are used, among other things, to destroy civilian targets in Crimea and Donbass. Gerasimov added that in October, Washington also supplied Ukraine with ATACMS operational-tactical missiles.

However, as the head of the General Staff noted, despite the financial and military assistance to Kyiv from the West, the Russian military continues to effectively carry out tasks to achieve the goals of the special military operation.

Strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on civilian targets

As Gerasimov noted, Kiev, seeing the inability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to achieve its goals on the battlefield, "continues to use terrorist methods of struggle, which are carried out with the tacit consent, and often with the support of Western special services."

He added that since the beginning of the special military operation, thousands of violations of international humanitarian law have been recorded.

"Rocket and artillery attacks on peaceful cities and towns of the Russian Federation, which are not justified by military necessity, are carried out every day. As a result, residential areas, hospitals, schools and other social facilities are being destroyed," Gerasimov said.

He cited data according to which more than 2022.4 thousand civilians, including 7 children, have been killed on the territory of the DPR alone since February 140. More than 5,<> people were injured.

As a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, more than 16 thousand residential buildings and almost 3.5 thousand civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and damaged, including about 700 educational and over 200 medical institutions.