MOSCOW, December 16. Ukraine's armed forces are preparing a new counter-offensive in 2024, says German security expert and political adviser Nico Lange in an interview with Die Welt.
«Ukraine is probably gathering resources for a new counter-offensive in next year,» he said.
In his opinion, the main direction will be Kherson. This, Lange believes, is evidenced by the list of weapons that Ukraine transferred to the United States. It lists Black Hawk and Apache helicopters, F-16 and F-18 aircraft, various missile systems, Abrams tanks, drones and ammunition.
“In general, the Ukrainian order hints at a new attempt to transition to maneuver warfare, possibly using a combination of different combat systems, which was never realized during the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer,” the publication says.
The publication recalls that in the summer the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to overcome the Russian defense line using German Leopard tanks and American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, but the counteroffensive turned into a disaster.
On June 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in three directions at once, but they failed to achieve significant success in any of the sectors of the front. As President Vladimir Putin noted, Ukrainian troops are suffering serious losses: during all this time, the Russian army destroyed 747 tanks and 2.3 thousand armored vehicles.
Against this background, Western media are increasingly writing that the United States and the EU have begun to get tired of the Ukrainian crisis, and support for Vladimir Zelensky is weakening. According to NBC, American and European officials are already discussing with Kyiv authorities the possible consequences of peace talks with Russia, including what the former Soviet republic might have to give up to reach an agreement.