Recapturing all occupied areas in one counteroffensive is impossible – military analyst Hetman

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"The enemies realize that our counteroffensive will take place anyway, so they are trying to prevent us in any way possible. That is, by constant shelling and localized attacks in small sections of the front line, the enemy distracts the attention of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and pushes us to make certain logistical movements that do not help us prepare for a counteroffensive. None of this will prevent us from launching a counteroffensive, but in this way Russia is trying to somehow suspend the beginning or diminish the possibilities of our offensive, which we expect," commented the reserve major.

Oleksii Hetman recalled the words of Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, that people should not hold unreasonable expectations regarding the offensive.

"This counteroffensive will not allow us to recapture all the territories occupied by the enemy. This is not part of the plan, because it is impossible to accomplish such tasks in one offensive. We will recapture some territories, but then we will stop, because after an offensive, any army in the world stops and balances its accounts, counts losses, puts weapons and people in order, and forms further offensive operations. Accordingly, we will not achieve victory in one counteroffensive, there should be several such operations,” he said. 

“Of course, we have already had the Kharkiv and Kherson operations, and we expect this operation to be even more powerful. However, a lot depends on the weather and the resistance of the Russian troops, because they can run away, as they did in the Kharkiv region, or they can stand to the last. Therefore, let's not be unreasonable with our expectations," Hetman added.

• On April 26, Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s South military command, said that the counteroffensive was already "taking small steps forward."

• Also, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had received 98% of the weapons needed for the counteroffensive.