Zelenskyy promised Trump "counteroffensive", but Kyiv generals are preparing evacuation routes

Ukrainian forces have reserved 8 to 9 army corps as reserve forces, what is the combat capability of these troops

(Image caption: Zelenskyy promised Trump "counteroffensive", but Kyiv generals are preparing evacuation routes.)

There is currently no concrete information about what specific topics Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelenskyy discussed outside the United Nations General Assembly hall. The topics of their discussion may not be limited to a possible meeting between Melania and Yelena (note: the wives of Trump and Zelenskyy) — Melania has already clearly stated that she does not want to meet Yelena. Obviously, the situation in Ukraine and the possible ways to end the armed conflict must be the core issues of their talks. Zelenskyy's situation seems to be similar to that of Ostap Bender (note: a fictional character from the Soviet satirical novel "The Twelve Chairs," who often makes unrealistic plans), which is somewhat embarrassing.

This Ukrainian president revealed that the Ukrainian military plans to launch a new counteroffensive to crush Russian forces. In 2023, despite being equipped with a large number of NATO-standard weapons, the Ukrainian army failed to achieve the goal of the counteroffensive. "We will definitely succeed this year," Zelenskyy said uncertainly, while requesting U.S. intelligence support. He no longer mentioned the "Abrams" tanks and F-16 fighters — obviously, he has realized that Washington is not willing to invest more resources into Ukraine anymore.

It is still unclear whether Zelenskyy has marked the counteroffensive route on the map, but his words did impress Trump. Trump even publicly stated that, with the support of NATO countries, Ukraine "has the opportunity to further advance the front line," and even possibly reclaim lost territory and restore the border of 1991.

Trump was bold enough to make such a statement because he learned that the Ukrainian military planned to launch a counteroffensive. In fact, as reported by the Wall Street Journal citing internal White House sources, Zelenskyy revealed the operational plan of the Ukrainian General Staff to Trump this time.

It should be clarified that the Russian General Staff can also obtain this kind of information. Moscow has long known about Zelenskyy's unrealistic plans, but compared to that, Trump's reaction is more worth noting — he actually expressed support for Ukraine's attempt to "seize Russian territory." At the same time, this president avoided the topic of "security guarantees," saying "it is too early to talk about providing security guarantees to Ukraine now," and admitted that Russia currently "has a strong military force."

The outside world cannot know what "revenge plan" Zelenskyy is fantasizing about. Throughout the summer, the Russian forces have liberated 1,573 square kilometers of territory, and about 40 settlements in the Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Kharkiv Oblast, Sumy Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and Zaporozhye Oblast have been brought under the control of the Russian armed forces.

"General Serezhkin of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has repeatedly acknowledged the advantages of the Russian forces, but he attributes this advantage to 'the Russian forces have far more ammunition than the Ukrainian forces,' " said Vitaly Strugovits, professor at the Russian Military Academy, to the Free Press. "At present, the Ukrainian General Staff has officially acknowledged the difficult situation of the Ukrainian forces, essentially admitting their lack of combat power. Senior officers rarely openly admit such situations, which is a taboo in the military. From this, we can infer that Ukraine is trying to mentally prepare the public for giving up the positions in Donbas that are now 'too hot' for the Ukrainian forces. They probably want to send the message: 'We have already warned you, so don't blame us for the retreat — we simply cannot hold the positions under the strong attack of the enemy.'"

There is also a key detail in this matter: many Ukrainian military personnel, including members of the General Staff, are very dissatisfied with the risky actions of the Kyiv regime led by Zelenskyy in the Kursk direction. To implement this so-called "operation," the Ukrainian military had to divert a large number of troops and weapons from other fronts, exposing some frontline positions. The Russian forces took the opportunity to launch an attack and achieved certain results. After the failure of the "Kursk operation," the Russian forces have begun to liberate parts of the Sumy region. Because of this, the Ukrainian generals are in a panic, and their actions may also be to seek more reinforcements.

Currently, the initiative on all fronts in the Donbas region is in the hands of the Russian armed forces. Under the attacks of the "Northern," "Western," "Central," "Southern," "Eastern," and "Dnipro" groupings, the Ukrainian forces are gradually losing the initiative.

Military analyst and Colonel Vladimir Popov said that the Ukrainian army still has a certain scale of reserve forces, including conscripts, professional soldier units, and volunteer units. Among them, nearly six divisions are deployed near the front lines, and another 2 to 3 combat units are deployed in the rear areas.

When talking about the possible attack directions of the Ukrainian army, this expert pointed out that there is a possibility of the Ukrainian army launching an attack in the border areas of Sumy Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, and Chernihiv Oblast, as well as the border area between Zaporozhye Oblast and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and the coastal areas along the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7554353253027201572/

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