WASHINGTON – Ukrainian troops have made “significant progress” against Russia in the southern Zaporizhia region in recent days, the Biden administration said Friday — while warning critics of Kyiv’s counteroffensive to stop playing “armchair quarterback.”
“We’ve all seen criticism by anonymous officials out there, which frankly doesn’t help the overall effort, which is to make sure Ukraine can succeed — and they and they have,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. in a conference call.
“We have noted in the last 72 hours some significant progress by the Ukrainian armed forces on the southern front line coming out of the Zaporizhzhia area,” he added.
“And they’ve had some success against that second line of Russian defense.”
“Now where they go from here and how they exploit that success, I’ll leave it up to them to discuss, but we’ve seen some significant progress,” Kirby reiterated.
Russia has held the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia – home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – since the early days of the war, although fighting has continued in the area throughout the 18-month-old conflict.
In recent weeks, Washington’s displeasure with the speed and strategy behind Ukraine’s two-and-a-half-month counteroffensive has become public, with several media outlets quoting an anonymous defense official pessimistic that Kyiv’s troops could break through Russian lines.
Several Western military experts told The Post this week that they have encouraged Ukraine to concentrate its troops in certain areas — but Kyiv has instead ordered its troops to disperse across the eastern theater, limiting the unit’s effectiveness.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attends an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Toledo, Spain on Thursday.REUTERS
Echoing the Biden administration’s line on Friday, Kirby said the war is Ukraine’s to fight, and the latest news from the battlefield should inspire critics to be more confident in their abilities and strategies.
“Any objective observer of these counterattacks, you cannot deny that they have made progress now,” Kirby said Friday. “It’s slow in some areas – slower than [Ukrainians] they themselves have said they want to leave – but they have fought every day bravely and bravely and we have tried to get them what they need.”
“Turning away and criticizing partners and friends as they try to move forward in bloody, ugly, violent circumstances does not help the overall effort,” he added.
“It’s not about them responding to our criticism – it’s about us responding to their need to be more successful on the battlefield.”
Despite progress in Zaporizhzhia, Kirby acknowledged that Ukraine “still has some tough battles ahead of them” as they try to push the battle line further south towards Crimea.
Several Western military experts told The Post this week that they had encouraged Ukraine to focus its forces in certain areas – but Kyiv instead ordered its troops to disperse across the eastern theater, limiting the unit’s effectiveness.REUTERS
“They know that better than anyone,” he said.
“What we’re focusing on is making sure they’re ready to sustain that progress because they have the tools and the techniques, they’ve got the training, they have the ability to resume that progress in a short amount of time. the rate they decide is appropriate.”
Kirby also warned that Ukraine’s recent gains may cause Russia to fight back, but so far the US has not observed any attempts “to push back some of that progress.”
“We have not seen anything significant … that leads us to believe that the Ukrainians still do not have the capacity and the opportunity to continue to make some progress,” he said.
However, the NSC representative said, Moscow remains in the struggle, “rain[ing] down” ballistic and cruise missiles into Ukrainian cities, as well as launching attacks with drones sourced from Iran.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
