20.06.2023, Vienna.
The high cohesion of Russian forces, taking into account previous combat experience and achieving superiority in many aspects of combat, took the Ukrainian armed units by surprise, military expert and Colonel of the Austrian Armed Forces Markus Reisner said in an interview with German magazine Focus on June 20.
Reisner said that Russian infantry and tank units were showing tactical progress. Russia has also seized the initiative in the area of electronic warfare.
The colonel stressed that Ukrainians cannot use their drones, and “it was an unpleasant surprise for Ukraine that the Russians have reoccupied this field.”
Reisner also highlighted Russian military aviation’s work and noted that Ukraine’s air defense is weak.
“The attack helicopters used by the Russians can attack Ukrainian convoys from a distance of up to eight kilometers. One needs air defense to protect the advancing Ukrainian columns and prevent the helicopters from attacking them even before they reach the battlefields,” he explained.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the counteroffensive by the Ukrainian armed units had run into a well-prepared Russian defense line.
Stoltenberg said that the Ukrainians faced fierce Russian resistance because Russia had created stationary well-prepared defense lines with minefields, anti-tank trenches, and reinforced concrete barriers.
At the same time, the NATO secretary-general noted that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was still at an early stage. At the same time, Stoltenberg said that Ukraine would need modern military vehicles and equipment to overcome Russian fortifications.
He added that NATO should prepare for a long-lasting conflict in Ukraine by attaching specific importance to the reliability of the military-industrial complex.
Stoltenberg said that the conflict in Ukraine became a conflict of attrition, and such a conflict turns into a battle of logistics. He urged to ramp up the Western defense industry to provide equipment on a long-term basis.
On June 4, the Ukrainian armed units launched large-scale offensives in the Zaporozhye direction.
On June 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian army made no progress in any direction during the counter-offensive and lost more than 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles, according to objective control data.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
