@cottagecheesefan wrote:
It isn’t just Russian sources saying lots of casualties. British military intel and western media also reporting this. CBS, AP, WSJ, take your pick.
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Both sides suffer heavy casualties as Ukraine strikes back against Russia, UK assessment says | AP News
Even the main Ukraine news source is like “well at least Russia is not advancing!”. This has been a complete disaster and they have literally been hyping this for like 6-8 months. Was supposed to be a winter offensive, then spring, now summer and it failing.
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Ukraine has to show progress or western help is likely to slowly dry up. Western countries, the US in particular, want to know that the billions spent on Ukraine so far has been for something.
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Ukraine's at Risk of a Devastating Setback (msn.com)
"Should the counteroffensive be unsuccessful, the U.S. and Europeans would continue to provide arms, but might be more open to peace initiatives that would freeze in place the two lines," Reardon said.
George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government professor Mark N. Katz told Newsweek that a failed counteroffensive would likely result in some voices in the West wanting to pull back support to Ukraine.
"They will argue that it is time for Ukraine to adjust to painful reality and agree to a ceasefire with Russia that leaves Moscow in possession of much or even all the territory that it now occupies," Katz said. "Putin is hoping for this to occur."
"By contrast, a successful Ukrainian offensive now—however that is defined—will not only make it easier for Ukraine's congressional supporters [in the United States] to keep on providing military assistance to Ukraine, but also more difficult for its opponents to make a convincing case about why this should not continue," Katz said.
As for the consequences on the battlefield, David Silbey—an associate professor of history at Cornell and director of teaching and learning at Cornell in Washington—told Newsweek that a failed counteroffensive "would most likely reestablish the status quo stalemate."
"Both the U.S. and Ukraine have been talking up the counteroffensive for months now, with tidbits about combined arms training and new weapons," he said. "If the offensive failed, it would be a blow to the political prestige of both countries."
