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The Ukrainian military has reportedly captured seven villages spanning just 90 square kilometers from Russian forces since the start of its counteroffensive on June 4.
On June 11, Ukrainian officials said their troops took over the villages of Novodonetskoe, Blagodatnoe, Storojevoe, Makarovka and Neskuchnoe in the Donetsk region. The next day, June 12, officials announced that the Zaporozhye region villages of Lokbovoe and Novodarovka were also now back under Ukrainian control.
The capture of the seven small villages was widely reported by the mainstream media as “initial success,” despite the fact that they are located kilometers away from the first line of defense of the Russian military in the Zaporozhye and south Donetsk sectors.
Prior to the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine Novodonetskoe was populated by just 327 people, Makarovka by 258, Blagodatnoe by 1097, Storojevoe by 96, Neskuchnoe by 644, Lokbovoe by 99 and Novodarovka had no more than 51 people living in it.
Kiev forces paid a heavy price to capture these small villages. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, around 10,000 have been killed or wounded since the start of the counteroffensive. Many of the casualties were trained by NATO in bases outside Ukraine.
Russian President Vladmir Putin also revealed in recent remarks that Ukraine lost 186 tanks and 418 armored vehicles in the course of the counteroffensive. The president said that around 30% of equipment supplied to Kiev forces by the West were destroyed, including German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks and American-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
Despite sustaining heavy losses and making very few gains, Kiev forces launched a new series of large-scale attacks in Zaporozhye and south Donetsk on June 17 and 18. Heavy fighting is now taking place on several fronts in the two sectors.
Ukraine appears to have built its counteroffensive plan based on the wishful thinking of Western politicians and the recommendations of the mainstream media. Now, its troops are paying the price.
