Ukraine's defense minister listed reasons why counteroffensive may be slower than anticipated

He said this in an interview with CNN.

The head of the Defense Ministry admitted that the counteroffensive is behind schedule, but assured that he is "not worried" because it is going according to plan. At the same time, he called it a misconception that "every counteroffensive should be fast."

Reznikov listed several reasons why the counteroffensive might be slower than expected.

"This is a matter of air defense. It is a matter of the fact that we have a very long front line. And we have a large number of enemies against us. This is a war, not a computer game. Our generals and commanders see the real situation on the battlefield. The main value for us is the lives of soldiers," the minister said.

He added that the advance on the southern front was significantly slowed down by minefields set up by Russian troops. Therefore, Ukrainian defenders often had to manually clear paths through these fields.

"We need to very slowly use our soldiers, sappers, and very slowly prepare corridors for a real offensive movement," Reznikov said, adding that activity in different locations would confuse the Russians about the main direction of the attack.

On July 24, Reznikov announced that this week he would submit a report to the Pentagon on the use of DPICM cluster munitions provided by the United States to our country.

The day before, he said that during the next NATO summit in the summer of 2024, Ukraine might be accepted into the alliance.

What is known about the Ukrainian counteroffensive

• On June 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a counteroffensive on the southern frontline, continuing a series of offensive operations near Bakhmut and in other directions.

• On June 11, the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced the liberation of Blahodatne, Neskuchne, and Makarivka settlements, near the border of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

• On June 24, the Ukrainian Defense Forces officially confirmed the liberation of the territories near Krasnohorivka in the Donetsk region, which had been under occupation since 2014.

• On June 26, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had de-occupied the village of Rivnopil, Donetsk region. It is located in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. The Russian army occupied the village in March 2022.

• British Defence Minister Ben Wallace stated that Ukraine has already liberated more territory as part of the summer counteroffensive campaign than Russia had captured during the entire winter offensive.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, July 23, that the Defense Forces have recaptured half of the territory that Russia has occupied since the start of the full-scale invasion.