The Ukrainian armed forces have moved into a defensive position, according to military analysts, after their summer counteroffensive failed to make significant progress against the Russian army, to which must be added the arrival of winter weather after almost 22 months of war.
“In recent weeks Ukraine has dedicated its efforts to improving field fortifications, as its forces move to a more defensive position along much of the front,” the British Ministry of Defense said in an assessment.
The Kremlin’s defenses withstood firmly for months the assault by the Ukrainians equipped with Western weapons but lacking essential air cover, on a front of around 1,000 kilometers.
Almost all of the fighting in recent weeks has been with artillery, missiles and drones because the mud and snow impede the movement of troops.
“Russia continues local offensive options in several sectors, but individual attacks rarely exceed platoon dimensions,” according to the British analysis. “A major Russian advance is unlikely, and the front is generally static.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes kyiv’s Western allies will tire of funding the costly Ukrainian war, allowing Kremlin forces to launch a new offensive next year against a weakened enemy. He has put the Russian economy on a war footing in preparation for it.
And Ukraine is going through a difficult situation not only on the front: kyiv needs $37.3 billion in foreign assistance to keep its economy afloat in 2024, as reported this Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund.
Added to this is the uncertainty regarding the approval of the multimillion-dollar items proposed by the United States and the European Union.
In the US, the Republican Party blocks in Congress the more than 61 billion dollars requested by the White House for Ukraine in 2024, while in the EU, Hungary vetoed a package of 50 billion euros.
“I am convinced that the US will not betray us and will give us everything promised. Regarding the EU, we achieved a victory (with the beginning of negotiations for Ukraine’s entry into the community bloc). About 50 billion euros (… .) The decision will be made soon,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky also assured that next year Ukraine plans to produce 1 million drones, which have become a key weapon. They are relatively cheap and can be used to destroy expensive supplies.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, the Minister of Strategic Industries, said the million drones will be so-called remote-viewing drones, which have a real-time video function.
Meanwhile, Russia returned tonight to attack Ukraine with 19 kamikaze Shahed drones, 18 of which were shot down over the regions of Odessa and Jerson (south), Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd (center), Vinytsia and Jmelnitski (west), Kiev and Chernobyv (north).
In addition, Russian forces fired two S-300 guided missiles at Kharkiv from the Russian border region of Belgorod, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
Kiev’s troops have also repelled dozens of Russian attacks in the last 24 hours along the front and on the eastern bank of the final stretch of the Dnieper River, where Ukrainian forces have managed to establish a beachhead.
The Russian Ministry of Defense limited itself to stating that it had repelled a total of eight Ukrainian attacks in various sectors of the front, without claiming advances by its troops or the taking of new towns.