Zelenskyy and the West Confronted with Collapse of Vaunted Counteroffensive

June 22, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—CNN today made the amazing discovery that Ukraine’s vaunted “counteroffensive” is lost. Previously, month after month, CNN has reported as gospel the military assessments and claims out of Kyiv, with little or no questioning. Today, they cite unnamed “Western and U.S. officials” in order to say that the counteroffensive is “not meeting expectations on any front.” It turns out, they add, that Ukrainian troops and armor are proving vulnerable to Russian minefields, missiles, and air power. CNN paraphrased their experts: “Russian lines of defense have been proving well-fortified, making it difficult for Ukrainian forces to breach them. In addition, Russian forces have had success bogging down Ukrainian armor with missile attacks and mines and have been deploying air power more effectively.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was feeling his best yesterday in his BBC interview. His take, when asked about the counteroffensive: “Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not.” Rather, as he put it, Ukrainian advances have been “slower than desired.... Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best.”

Yet Zelenskyy still insisted, in a sort of Hitler-in-the-bunker moment, the goal of total victory was the only objective, and no negotiations or compromises could be entertained. He admitted that such a goal meant that “victories on the battlefield are necessary,” but wasn’t prepared to explain what would have to change to accomplish such victories. He offered that “no matter how far we advance in our counteroffensive, we will not agree to a frozen conflict because that is war, that is a prospectless development for Ukraine.”