No war fatigue despite slower than anticipated Ukraine offensive, say western officials

But 50 per cent of Russian combat power has been destroyed and Kyiv had Nato backing for a long war

A wounded soldier of Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade waits for evacuation near Bakhmut. AP

Ukraine’s counter offensive is going “slower than anticipated” but its armed forces have destroyed 50 per cent of Russia’s combat power, western officials have said.

Although in the past week Ukraine has made a potential breakthrough in Russian lines around the settlement of Robotyne, Nato’s hoped-for armoured penetration has not happened after almost 100 days of fighting.

Senior sources recognised that the progress could only be measured in kilometres, stating that Ukraine’s western-supplied brigades had been rapidly put together and had to face “extraordinary well prepared” defences.

“It is incremental, methodical progress and it is slower than we anticipated a couple of months ago,” the senior source told a media briefing. “That's an acknowledgement of Russian defences and the Ukrainians having to pull together a force that is a mixed fleet of both old equipment and donated equipment, and a civilian population that has been thrown to the fore.”

The combat brigades were doing one of the “toughest things in land warfare” in breaching deep minefields while under enemy fire. “It's incredibly tough, but they're making progress.”

Instead of “obsessing about how many hundreds of metres Ukraine has achieved today” it had to be understood that the war “has been a catastrophic failure for Russia” as it had botched all its strategic objectives.

Furthermore, Nato had got stronger and there was no evidence to suggest that Moscow was winning.

“Over the last year Russia has lost 50 per cent of the territory that it seized and never changed the government of Ukraine,” he said.

A British Challenger 2 tank. Photo: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Ukraine was on a pathway to having a better air force than it started the war with and had “a substantially stronger army” that was likely the largest and best in Europe.

Furthermore, Russia had suffered 270,000 casualties alongside losing more than 2,000 tanks and 4,000 fighting vehicles which was “an enormous drain” and around half its combat power.

The officials stated that President Vladimir Putin’s sole objective was to hold on in the hope that former US president Donald Trump would get re-elected next year and withdraw support for Ukraine.

“We aren't just about to walk away as this isn't really a war choice and our support for Ukraine will continue,” he added. “There's a no sign of war fatigue in Ukraine, they're not about to give up” and the Ukrainians were “determined to eject Russia from its territory”.

The comments came as Antony Blinken pledged to give Ukraine what it needs to succeed in its counter-offensive against Russian forces during a surprise visit to Kyiv.

The US Secretary of State arrived on unannounced visit, hours after Russia launched its first missile attack in a week against the Ukrainian capital.

His visit is the first trip to Kyiv by a top US official since the Ukrainian counter-offensive began.

Mr Blinken’s trip aims to assess Ukraine’s three-month counter-offensive and signal US support for Kyiv’s efforts to drive out Kremlin forces after 19 months of war amid concern from some western allies about the speed of progress, US officials said.

“We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counter-offensive but has what it needs for the long-term, to make sure that it has a strong deterrent,” he said during the visit.

Ukrainian service members prepare a mortar at their position near a frontline in Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters

“We’re also determined to continue to work with our partners as they build and rebuild a strong economy, strong democracy.”

A recent report by the Rusi think tank has criticised Nato countries for failing to give adequate and realistic training for Ukrainians. The western official stated that generally they only had five weeks to turn civilians into soldiers and “we've got to be honest about the level of training that you can do in a short period of time”.

After high losses in armoured vehicles in the offensive’s opening days, the battle had now become a dismounted infantry action of trench clearance.

“That means a lot more of the kit has been preserved,” he said. “So winter not be about giving lots more kit but about equipment support and enabling that kit to be in the best state possible.”

The source also disclosed that the British-supplied Challenger 2 tank shown to be on fire on Wednesday had hit a mine and was then struck by a kamikaze drone. All the crew escaped unharmed but there were no plans as yet for the tank to be replaced.

The official concluded that Ukraine was a democracy that had a good future with likely membership of Nato and the EU but it needed to “put right the damage that has been inflicted by Russia” and that would take time.

By contrast, Russia “continues to diminish nation” and was a “closed country with millions of people trying to get out”.