Ukraine's Counteroffensive In Kherson Stalled? Zelensky Aide Says 'There'll Be No Quick Wins'

After weeks of pounding Russian troops with high-precision rockets and drones, the Ukrainian forces launched a long-awaited counteroffensive Monday to take back territories in the Kherson region. However, amid reports that the operation is getting bogged down, Ukraine said its operation to take back Kherson is going as planned but cautioned that "there will be no quick wins."

Much of the Kherson region, which borders the Black Sea, was seized by Russian forces during the initial days of the invasion. Media reports said Ukraine's forces have broken through the first line of defense with simultaneous strikes carried out in eight directions.

However, a report in Al Jazeera, quoting local resident Pantelis Boubouras who is Greece's honourary consul in Kherson and runs a construction business in Odesa said that after the initial success the counteroffensive had bogged down. "The second line isn't falling easily. There are 25,000-30,000 soldiers, they've been there five months, and are very well equipped and dug in."

The Guardian reported a senior adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as saying that Ukraine's counteroffensive to reclaim Kherson has neither stalled nor failed. Oleksiy Arestovych in a video message posted to Telegram early Thursday morning said:

"The fact that we have not taken Kherson yet does not mean that the operation in the south has stalled or failed. It is carried out in a planned manner. We destroy enemy logistics, air defense systems, fuel and ammunition depots... There will be no quick wins. Initially, a strategy was taken to systematically grind Putin's army. It is long, so there is a lot of work to be done."

Meanwhile, Germany's Chief of Defense General Eberhard Zorn on Wednesday in an interview with Reuters warned that the West must not underestimate Moscow. Saying that Russia has the scope to open up a second front, General Zorn pointed out that apart from the army, which may be tied down in Ukraine, Russia also has a navy and air force, which may pose a significant threat.

"The bulk of the Russian land forces may be tied down in Ukraine at the moment but, even so, we should not underestimate the Russian land forces' potential to open a second theatre of war," Zorn told Reuters. "Most of the Russian navy has not yet been deployed in the war on Ukraine, and the Russian air force still has significant potential as well, which poses a threat to NATO too," he added.

In a report, citing the U.S, and western officials and Ukrainian sources, CNN said that in its buildup to the current counteroffensive, the U.S. had urged Kyiv to keep the operation limited in both its objectives and its geography to avoid getting overextended and bogged down on multiple fronts.

Although the Ukrainians were initially considering a broader counteroffensive, they narrowed their mission to the south, in the Kherson region, in recent weeks, following discussions involving "war-gaming" — analytical exercises that were intended to help the Ukrainian forces understand what force levels they would need to muster to be successful in different scenarios, the CNN report said.