WASHINGTON, March 20. /TASS/. If there was a turning point in the conflict in Ukraine, it was likely Kiev’s failed counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, according to the American magazine The National Interest.
The article notes that the Ukrainian military spent months preparing for a large-scale offensive operation in the southeastern part of the contact line. Units designated to spearhead the operation received the latest heavy weapon systems from the West, including Challenger 2 and Leopard 2 main battle tanks, as well as M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
"When the Ukrainian armed forces launched their offensive, they fell on Russia's defensive works - the largest and most comprehensive defensive line seen in Europe since the end of World War II," The National Interest states. "The Russian military leadership focused on the defense, erecting miles of defensive works and peppering hundreds of square kilometers of territory with anti-tank and anti-personnel mines," which hindered the Ukrainian armed forces' ability to break through, the article explains.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive began on June 4, 2023, and concluded in November of the same year. The primary focus of the offensive was the Zaporozhzhye Region. Russia has repeatedly emphasized that, despite heavy losses, the so-called counteroffensive yielded no results for Kiev. In an attempt to justify their lack of successes on the battlefield, the Ukrainian authorities frequently accused NATO of insufficient supplies, to which alliance officials responded that Kiev had received everything it needed.
On December 1, 2023, Vladimir Zelensky admitted that the operation had failed. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian military lost over 125,000 personnel and 16,000 pieces of equipment since the beginning of the counteroffensive.