Military expert Oleg Zhdanov believes that the new counteroffensive of the Ukrainian military will be different from the operation in the Kharkiv direction. The offensive itself will last at least one or two months.
“I can say for sure that it will probably be very difficult to repeat the speed of advance as in the Kharkiv operation because the density of troops is quite high. At that time, there were about 120,000 (Russian military) on the territory of Ukraine, taking into account losses. Even considering that the northern grouping of Russian troops was transferred to the east, the density of troops here was at least 4 times lower than now. Therefore, it is unlikely that it will be possible to repeat at such a speed, and you should not count on it. But something like the Kharkiv operation - maneuverable deep penetration - I fully expect from our troops," he explained during the broadcast on YouTube.
At the same time, the expert does not undertake to make predictions about where the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will take place.
“In terms of time, I think the counteroffensive can stretch for several months. A counteroffensive operation will take place for a month or two, because the depth of the operation will be, on average, about 100 km. This is a rather large distance, given that in these 100 km, there will be pockets of enemy defense, which they are intensively creating today in more or less large settlements in the occupied territory," he continued.
Zhdanov noted that the main thing is that Ukraine has enough strength and reserves to complete the counteroffensive operation.
“So that we don’t stop halfway. Or maybe this will contribute to a cascading collapse of the enemy’s defenses, and the enemy will flee, abandoning everything, as it was in the Kharkiv operation. Let’s see how it will look. Now the task is to prepare for this counteroffensive and do well finish the defensive operation to inflict maximum damage on the enemy," Zhdanov summed up.
