Ukrainians counteroffensive exceeds expectations – Stoltenberg

During counteroffensive operations, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) successfully push back the russian invaders, gradually knocking out the enemy from his positions. It is capable of breaking through some fortified defense lines of the occupiers.

This follows from a statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, CNN reports.

In an interview with the publication, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) gave a positive assessment of the counteroffensive of the AFU and, in this context, emphasized the importance of the support of Ukraine by partner and allied countries.

"The Ukrainians are gradually gaining ground, which means that they are pushing the russians back, and they can break through some of these well-fortified areas, thanks in particular to minefields," he said.

Stoltenberg also drew attention to the difficult battles on the fronts, while the Ukrainians on their difficult path to victory "are achieving successes that are gaining momentum."

He also disagreed with the critical assessments of some Western military and experts regarding the slow advancement of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in this campaign. He added that "there is a constant dialogue" between NATO allies and the Ukrainian side.

"We saw that the Ukrainians once again exceeded expectations. And we must remember that it all started last year with the full-scale invasion of the russian Federation into Ukraine - then experts believed that Ukraine would last only a few days or weeks. But they liberated the north - Kyiv, the east "the Kharkiv Region, the territory in the south - Kherson. And now they are achieving even greater success," Stoltenberg said.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Ukraine lost only five Leopard-2 tanks during the counteroffensive.