Ukraine has not even been able to reach the line of defense of the Russian forces and is forced to change the tactics of the counteroffensive, CNN reported on August 8, citing US and European high-ranking officials.

Congressman Mike Quigley admitted to the TV channel that the United States is receiving disappointing reports about the Ukrainian counteroffensive. At the moment, this is the most difficult time in the conflict, he stressed.

As noted in the CNN material, the Ukrainian army is faced with a serious problem in the form of an impenetrable Russian defense. In addition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) suffered huge losses, which is why they have to retreat.

One of the Western diplomats shared that the Ukrainian army has not even passed through the first line of defense of the Armed Forces (AF) of the Russian Federation.

“If they continue to fight for a few more weeks and do not achieve any results, then what are the guarantees that they will succeed at all, taking into account that the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be depleted by then,” he said.

The article also mentions that some politicians are worried that the failure of the Ukrainian army’s offensive will lead to accusations both within Ukraine and in several Western countries. As a result, this can lead to a split.

Earlier, on August 5, former IMF economist and ex-Bank of America strategist David Wu said that the UAF counteroffensive would soon run out of steam. According to him, we are talking about a few weeks. He pointed out that the Russian side takes into account mistakes and learns.

On August 6, ex-US Marine Brian Berletic noted that Ukrainian troops would not be able to hold the territories occupied during the counteroffensive. In his opinion, the Russian defense lines were created in order to trap and destroy the Ukrainian combat units trained by NATO. He believes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not even reach the first line.

On the same day, former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was following NATO’s order to switch to assault tactics with a large number of armored vehicles. Ritter believes that the alliance is disappointed in the counteroffensive, since the Ukrainian army has not shown any significant success so far.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 last year, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.