Otteita:
U.S. and Ukrainian officials have been engaged in an intense behind-the-scenes debate for weeks over the strategy and tactics for reviving Kyiv’s slow-moving counteroffensive. American military officials have been urging the Ukrainians to return to the combined arms training they received at allied bases in Europe by concentrating their forces to try to bust through Russia defenses and push to the Sea of Azov.
Kyiv has made some adjustments in recent weeks, but the two sides are still at odds about how to turn the tables on the Russians in the limited time they have before winter sets in.
The American advice is based on the calculation that the surge of equipment the U.S. has funneled to Ukraine—more than $43 billion in weaponry has been committed over the years—is enough for this offensive and is unlikely to be repeated at anywhere near the same level in 2024. “We built up this mountain of steel for the counteroffensive. We can’t do that again,” one former U.S. official said. “It doesn’t exist.” It isn’t too late for Ukraine to make gains, according to U.S. officials.
While there are differing views within the U.S. government, one official said that Washington has conveyed “serious frustration” with Ukraine’s strategy, particularly President Volodymyr Zelensky’s focus on Bakhmut, which some Ukrainian officers see as useful to build morale and create a buffer zone in the east.
But U.S. officials say the Ukrainians are still spread too thin for a concentrated push south with numerous brigades deployed in the east and are still not combining the use of artillery, mechanized units and mine-clearing efforts.
Holding casualties to a minimum is needed to preserve their longer-term fighting potential, the Ukrainians say. But U.S. officials say the Ukrainians’ small-unit attacks on narrow fronts slow the offensive and give the Russians more opportunity to respond, including with mines that are dispensed through artillery strikes and units armed with rocket-propelled grenades.
Tämä taitaa selittää miksi etenemis-uutisia ei ole tullut Bakhmutin suunnalta hetkeen, USA on painostanut lopettamaan offensiivit siellä ja keskittymään etelään.
Toisaalla:
The Pentagon plans to begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets in the United States as early as September, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
Defense Department officials said last week that Ukrainian pilots would be trained in the United States if a European coalition effort to train dozens of pilots, led by the Netherlands and Denmark, reached capacity. But the approach is now changing to also bring Ukrainian pilots for training in the United States as soon as Ukraine identifies them.
It was unclear whether the United States would train pilots originally destined for European training programs or this would be an additional group.
The pilots will first receive English language training in Texas and then begin months of flight training in Arizona, said the U.S. official who addressed the issue on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss future training plans.
