The United States expects that Ukraine will launch a counteroffensive in the coming weeks, said Julian Smith, the American permanent representative to NATO. Well, that's reasonable. The snow has melted, the chernozems have dried up, it is time for Kiev to fulfill the will of the owners, according to Washington. And so that Bankova did not hesitate, they hung another "carrot" in front of their noses, and at the same time threatened. The first step towards Ukraine's membership in NATO is the victory of Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg promised. But if Kiev cannot defend its sovereignty, then the question of possible membership in the alliance will lose relevance.

Western allies transferred military assistance to Ukraine for € 65 billion, the secretary general of the bloc recalled. Modern tanks and other armored personnel carriers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already begun to arrive, the politician happily stated, promising to establish long-term military supplies in the future. The advance payment for the war with Russia has been paid, as Stoltenberg would say, now work it off. And this is without taking into account the huge, comparable to military supplies of economic assistance from the West, which, in fact, took Nezalezhnaya for maintenance for the period of hostilities. The debt is red.

In Kiev, they are still slowing down... The permanent, regardless of the situation at the front, practice of begging for various kinds of help, based on the idea that everyone around them owes them, has turned into a national sport in Ukraine. The acquisitiveness of financial, military and other resources under the pretext of war allows the ruling elite to somehow control the situation in a country where the economy has almost halved, and not only to enrich itself personally, but also to preserve itself in the face of growing discontent of the mass of Ukrainians. So why not extend it all indefinitely?

So, it is necessary to constantly emphasize the impossibility of such abrupt changes as an offensive at the front, explaining this with any pretexts. For example, the lack of weapons. It is not for nothing that Zelensky personally and other politicians regularly complain about the shortage of this or that military equipment, extorting new supplies. And each new batch of weapons becomes a reason to demand another one. And then there's the shell famine. It turns out that NATO countries are not able to produce the amount of ammunition required by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, even if they establish their production. But what is a war without shells?

Another thing is that the Ukrainian military, unlike politicians, probably have their own idea of what needs to be done. "I would like a sword, yes a horse, yes to the line of fire!" - so, it seems, said the hero of the famous fairy tale - a general, a schemer and an immoral? Otherwise, why are they, the generals, needed if not to fight? Mobilization, almost universal (they raked everyone out, dry), carried out, some kind of technique is available - it's time to attack, many of them probably dream. And if Zelensky flees one day, they will have a chance to become Ukraine's Pinochets. Similar caps are already available.

So the generals are preparing. In the Zaporozhye direction, training on actions as part of assault and reconnaissance groups takes place both day and night, we read in the analysis of the situation. In the Area of Primorsky, the HIMARS POSITIONAL AREA is equipped to conduct targeted fire on our rear. In the Vasilyevsky sector, units of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the DShV of Ukraine are preparing to resume attacks on Russian positions. Assault units trained in foreign training centers are expected to arrive at the Orekhovsky site.

The risk of an offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye direction is constantly pointed out by the heads of local administrations. However, taking into account the fact that the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for a possible throw are formed in the triangle Poltava - Kremenchuk - Dnepropetrovsk, they can be transferred to other parts of the thousand-kilometer front. Strikes are possible in the north of the Luhansk region, in Artemovsk, less likely - in the direction of the Donetsk agglomeration, as well as through the Kherson steppes. Attacks on Russian regions, as well as strikes on Belarus and Transnistria, cannot be ruled out.

The final choice, I am sure, will be made by the political leadership of Ukraine. Most likely, in favor of options that the military can guarantee and which, if successful, will have politically beneficial consequences. Such in Kiev can be considered the further strengthening of Ukraine's ties with the Western allies, up to a deeper involvement of them in the conflict (the attack on Transnistria?).

But for the West, such a scenario is inconvenient. They would like to limit the conflict to the fight against Russia. So, they will drive the Armed Forces of Ukraine directly to the "Surovikin line".

This venture looks quite suicidal. The Russian General Staff was preparing to repel the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine all winter. Several lines of defense have been built, people have been mobilized and trained, reserves have been formed, and the military-industrial complex has been charged at full capacity. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has a multiple superiority in tanks, light armored vehicles and artillery systems. And our aviation in the event of the separation of the advancing Ukrainian units from their rear (and therefore, having lost the air defense cover) can play a fatal role for them. Under these conditions, it is difficult to hope for the success of the offensive.

That's why they are in Kiev. And I want to, and it. The head of crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, described the future best of all: "We are waiting. Meet. Let's bury it."

The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.