Ukraine’s counter-offensive: has it made progress?
Sep 1, 2023
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A war reporter from CNN, a defense analyst, and a representative from the Institute for the Study of War discuss Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia. They talk about the slow progress, potential scenarios for the endgame, and the importance of international support.
Ukraine's counter-offensive aims to push Russian forces back to Crimea and potentially gain strategic advantages in future negotiations.
The objective of Ukraine's counter-offensive is to disrupt Russian operations and bring Ukrainian forces closer to Russian logistics lines in the south, aiming to restore Ukraine to its 1991 borders.
Deep dives
Current state of Ukraine's counter-offensive
The podcast explores the progress of Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia's invasion. It highlights the dismissal of criticism by Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmaturo Kolabar, who emphasizes the sacrifices made by Ukrainian soldiers in liberating Ukrainian territory. While the counter-offensive has not achieved as much as desired, recent gains, such as the capture of the village of Rabot in the Parisia region, could potentially help push Russian forces back to Crimea. The podcast discusses the slow progress of the counter-offensive and raises questions about possible breakthroughs, the reasons behind the slow progress, and the anticipated duration of the conflict.
Objectives of the Ukrainian counter-offensive
The podcast delves into the objectives of Ukraine's counter-offensive. It highlights the aim to liberate Ukrainian territory and bring Ukrainian forces closer to Russian logistics lines in the south. By interdicting these logistics, Ukraine seeks to disrupt Russian operations between occupied eastern Ukraine and Crimea. The ultimate goal, as stated by Ukrainian officials, is to restore Ukraine to its 1991 borders, which includes Crimea and Donbass. While achieving this may be challenging, the counter-offensive aims to put pressure on Russia, threaten Crimea, and potentially gain strategic advantages in future negotiations.
Assessment of the counter-offensive and future prospects
The podcast explores the ongoing counter-offensive operations and the prospects for future outcomes. It highlights the Ukrainian effort to degrade Russian defensive lines while stretching and pinning Russian forces in various sectors of the front. The Ukrainians aim to prevent the Russians from falling back in good order, forcing them to crack under pressure. The importance of recent gains, such as the capture of Robotina in Zaparizia, is emphasized. The podcast discusses the involvement of Ukrainian forces, including the deployment of Challenger tanks, and notes that Ukraine needs additional support earlier in the conflict. It also raises questions about the impact of the counter-offensive on the wider war, the West's perception of its success, and the potential for future conflicts and negotiations.
Despite the reported capture of the village of Robotyne, is Ukraine making any meaningful gains in its counter-offensive?
To take stock of how it’s going, Victoria and Vitaly are joined by Riley Bailey from the Institute for the Study of War and Professor Michael Clarke, a defence and security analyst based in London.
Also, veteran war reporter for CNN, Christiane Amanpour, joins us from Kyiv to discuss the possible scenarios as to how the war could end.
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.
The producers were Sam McLaren, Arsenii Sokolov and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
TOPICS:
00:05 - Ukraine’s Foreign Minister tells critics to ‘shut up’
03:20 - What is the point of Ukraine’s counter-offensive?
07:48 - How much progress is being made?
13:19 - Where might the counter-offensive end up?
18:00 - Christiane Amanpour
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