Ukraine launches ‘significant counteroffensive’ as Russia face fortnight of hell

Ukrainian infantrymen ‘advancing’ near Robotyne Ukrainian forces have launched a ‘significant counteroffensive’ that could last up to three weeks as they try to punch a hole through deep Russian defence lines, experts have claimed. Russian forces have fortified miles of occupied territory with mines and tank traps, as well as adopting more considered reconnaissance missions, to slow down the thrust of Ukraine’s three-point counteroffensive. But Pentagon officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the New York Times that Ukraine has now launched the main thrust of its counteroffensive to potentially break through these defensive lines, bringing forward thousands of Western-trained troops held in reserve. Their comments came just hours after Russian officials reported major Ukrainian attacks in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian officials have allegedly told the US officials that the new operation, if successful, would last one to three weeks in what is being described as the ‘big test’ of the counteroffensive. Ukraine are operating three main axes of counter attack The two main lines of attack appear to be south of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region, which is the most western operation, and further east near the besieged city of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian officials have declined to comment on exactly where their reserves are being employed – led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, the country has been unwaveringly adhering to the line ‘plans love silence’. But a spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said on Wednesday (July 26) the Ukrainians had mounted a ‘massive’ assault with three battalions, reinforced with tanks, south of the town of Orikhiv, and then another a few miles farther south near the village of Robotyne, according to the state news agency Tass. While Russian reports are untrustworthy, often entirely made up, footage (above) later emerged that same day of Ukrainian soldiers from the 118th Mechanize Brigade riding a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle south of Orikiv. The video was dated July 26. Ukrainian soldiers transport shells into a camouflaged tank on the Bakhmut frontline SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based open source intelligence group (OSINT), then in its latest report claimed that Ukraine had ‘broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions south of Orikhiv’, adding that they had ‘launched in intense frontal assault towards Robotyne’. They described the attack as a ‘significant mechanized counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhzia’, though they made no reference to the mobilisation of Western-trained reservists. They added that geolocated footage such as the video of the 118th Mechanized Brigade showed Ukrainian forces ‘likely advanced to within 2.5km directly east of Robotyne’ before Russia then pushed them back slightly. Whether this will materialise into a three-week assault on Russia forces that penetrate the fortified defensive lines remains uncertain but, according to Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, ‘it will be clear soon whether this attack will allow Ukraine to change the current dynamic’. Trending Russian MOD spokesman Igor Konashenkov said both Orikhiv attacks had been repelled