The much vaunted & procastinated summer offensive of the ukranian forces will fail to reach the south eastern city of Melitopol or Mariupol according to US intelligence reports which effectively means that Ukraine will fail in it’s primary objective of severing Russia’s land bridge to Crimea this year.
A classified document leaked on the social media app “Discord” identified Melitopol or Mariupol as the objective to deny Russia the land access to Crimea.
Ukraine’s delayed summer counter-offensive backed by the US and it’s allies dollars & ammo is falling apart as it faces a multi layered Russian defence consisting of minefields & trenches. The conquering of Melitopol was critical to Ukraine’s and Zelensky’s plans because of its strategic location and being a vital transit route to the Crimean peninsula.
With the Ukranian forces still around the town of Robotyne which is almost 50 miles from Mariupol the proposed onslaught seems to have hit a roadblock and is highly unlikely to meet it’s target before the onset of the winters.
Military observers attribute this failure to a spread out and a scattered approach by Ukraine for fear of losing men and instead of the recommended concentrated offensive right at the heart of Russia ‘s defence in order to pierce it.
Chairman of the joints chief of staff Gen Mark. A. Milley summed up the whole hyped offensive ” I had said a couple of months ago that this offensive was going to be long, it’s going to be bloody it’s going to be slow and that’s exactly what it is, long, bloody and slow and it’s a very very difficult fight.”
Gen Milley who burnt his fingers in Afghanistan and has lot’s of combative experience shot straight from the hip and didn’t mince any words.
Echoing Gen Milley’s words Rob Lee a military analyst with the Foreign Policy Research Institute said that the road to Mariupol would be extremely challenging as the Ukranian forces will have to breach 3 main defence lines and fortified cities and still have enough gas in the tank for the final assault.
This puts President Biden – who had requested the Congress for an additional 21billion dollars for Ukraine – under increasing pressure from both the Republicans & the Democrats for a seemingly failed offensive which put holes in the US exchequer when the US economy is still not out of the woods and still reeling under the Covid aftermath.
113 billion dollars has already been sanctioned by the Congress since the war began in february 2022. US is currently staring at a 33 trillion debt and any diversion of funds for the war torn Ukraine at the expense of Americans welfare will invite a lot of flak for President Biden and his team .
Biden would not want to carry the baggage of the Ukranian famed & failed summer offensive into the 2024 presidential elections.
