Kyic’s counteroffensive is moving slowly but missiles and drones are hitting high-value targets
Melitopol remains a distant prospect, however. From Robotyne it lies across some 85km of flat terrain that Russia seized early in its invasion. Russian forces have since had ample time to turn it into a nightmare for any force trying to cross it, combining minefields, anti-tank ditches, concrete “dragon’s teeth” obstacles and trenches, some of which are rigged with explosives.
Kyiv’s military can only call on a fraction of the soldiers and armoured vehicles available to Moscow, and early losses of both prompted it to revert to a more cautious approach, involving painstaking demining, often at night, before proceeding in relatively small units that are less exposed to Russia’s artillery and vastly superior air power.
The tactics frustrated some Western observers who expected Ukraine throw more of its new Western-trained and Western-equipped battalions into the fray in unison, but they have now started to deliver some results while limiting losses in fighters and weaponry.