LONDON (Realist English). The armed formations controlled by the Kiev regime successfully use Western weapons, precisely hitting the rear of the Russian Armed Forces and the forces of the Donbass Republics, but do not have enough human resources to launch a full-fledged counteroffensive in the south. The further course of events on the front will depend on the stability of the assistance of the United States and the partners to the regime in Kiev, Jonathan Marcus, a defense columnist and professor at the University of Exeter, said in an interview with the BBC.
In his opinion, neither side has the strength and capabilities to radically change the situation on the battlefield. A potential counteroffensive by the Ukraine in the south seems impossible to him, since the armed formations of the Kiev regime do not have the necessary numerical advantage over the adversary.
“The problem is this: you can prepare the battlefield as much as you like, but to start a successful offensive, you need a three-to-one advantage in manpower: so that one defense soldier has three in the attack. Ukrainians in the south not only do not have such a level of advantage, but, in my opinion, they do not have enough well-prepared, trained, maneuverable forces to launch such an offensive,” Markus explained.
On August 20, the British Ministry of Defense announced on Twitter that the situation on the front has hardly changed in recent weeks, and the initiative in the coming months will go to the side that can create an offensive grouping.
Last week there were minimal changes along the front line. In the Donbass, after small offensives since the beginning of August, Russian troops have approached the outskirts of the town of Bakhmut, but have not yet broken into the settlement.
Russia has not made serious efforts to advance in the Zaporozhye or Kharkov directions. In the southwest, neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian troops have advanced on the Kherson front line.
