During a press conference on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenky confirmed that the country's armed forces are involved in both offensive and defensive battles. However, he did not specify the stage of the military operations.
"It is crucial that Russia feels that it does not have much time," Zelenskyy said.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Johan Huovinen at the Swedish Defence University, Ukraine is trying as long as possible to keep the Russian occupiers in uncertainty about the direction of the counteroffensive. He has intelligence that Ukrainian forces have carried out reconnaissance attacks in several places in recent days in search of gaps in the Russian defense.
Have reached defensive positions
The attacks have mainly taken place southeast of Zaporizhia in the direction of Orichev and near Vuhledar in Donetsk. So far with some success, according to Houvinen:
"Some Ukrainian units have penetrated between 5 and 17 kilometers in Russian-controlled territory all the way to the first defense lines. There are reports that Russian defensive positions have been taken in one place.
He points out that the attacks are made with as little as 30-150 soldiers. When the real offensive comes, the scope will be much larger – the goal will probably reach the Sea of Azov and split the Russian-occupied area in two.
"Normal losses"
"Once you find the hatch and start gathering strength, it will be with several brigades of 3,000-6,000 soldiers. Then the fighting is much more serious and it will undoubtedly be noticeable when it begins.
On the Russian side, it is claimed that Ukraine's offensive has already begun and that it has been repulsed. Among other things, the Ministry of Defense has published pictures of destroyed armored vehicles that Ukraine received from the West.
"It's about single Leopard tanks and 6-8 Bradley combat vehicles. These must be seen as perfectly normal losses for the attacker. The assessment is that Ukraine has prepared so well that they have a personnel advantage of three or four to one. Otherwise, there is no point in attacking.