Ukrainian military in the Donetsk region on Wednesday Photo: Anadolu agency
Ukraine's counteroffensive is proceeding according to the plan developed with the UK and the US in the winter, said Britain's Secretary of State for the Armed Forces.
James Hippie dismissed concerns that the operation stalled after a leaked German military assessment cast doubt on Ukraine's progress and tactics.
Mr Hippie said Kiev was exercising «due care» in refusing to send large numbers of men and Western-supplied weapons into Russia's dense minefields.
According to him, the Ukrainian military held back enough firepower to create a breakthrough at the right time.
“At the moment, Ukraine lives up to our expectations. They are basically implementing the plan they developed with us Americans and others last winter,” he told The Telegraph during an interview in Busan, South Korea.
“This is not a Hollywood movie. There shouldn't have been a moment when the tanks would roll, the music would play, the military montage would play out, and then, at the end, victory by September.»
This is true. came as a Western official also responded to claims that Ukraine is making slow progress. The source said that Kiev is still waiting to send a second wave of its forces to the best possible attack route.
“We are still waiting for the Ukrainians to send a second echelon against the direction they choose. «, — said the official.
Ukraine is now attacking in three directions: Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Bakhmut.
U.S. officials said Wednesday night that the main thrust of the Ukrainian counter-offensive had finally begun in Zaporozhye, with thousands of men and Western weaponry involved in the offensive.
'Slow progress'
An official dismissed the leaked assessment Bundeswehr, which claimed that Ukraine was moving forward too cautiously and could not apply the tactics that its soldiers had learned in Western training camps.
«I don't think that's particularly fair,» they said. «The Ukrainians will use the equipment the way they see fit and it's very difficult to comment when you're thousands of miles away from the front lines.» most of its brigades are equipped with western «hidden from view» and out of combat kit.
«It's very easy to lose tens of thousands of lives just trying to get through minefields, and then you will have nothing left to break through when you there,” he said.
«So, I think the painstaking progress they're making is necessary, and then when they clear the obstacle courses, they'll still have enough combat power ready to use to break through.»
Ukrainian soldiers have to dismount from Western armored vehicles and clear the fields by hand, a Western official said, partly due to a shortage of mine-clearing vehicles.
Leaders in Kiev acknowledged that the offensive had only limited success, freeing about 150 square miles, or about 0 .3% of the territory gained by Russia after last year's invasion.
A set of drones ready to be sent to the front lines for use against Russian forces. Photo: Libkos/AP Russia 'never be a trifle'
In parts, the Russian defense is almost 19 miles deep. Along with a shortage of mine-clearing equipment, Ukraine also faces a shortage of vital aviation. Kyiv soldiers were killed by the strafing of Russian helicopters trying to advance.
A leaked German military assessment claimed that Kiev failed to implement standard NATO tactics by attacking with too few units and not simultaneously engaging infantry, artillery and tanks in a «combined arms war.»< /p>
They accused Ukraine of choosing combat veterans over untested soldiers trained in Western boot camps.
Mr. Hippie, who is the front-runner to succeed Ben Wallace as Secretary of Defense, defended the Ukrainian offensive, saying it must be acknowledged that Kiev was facing a defense that had been in the making for six months.
At the time as Russia's Professional Army has been greatly reduced and relies more on demoralized conscripts, Kiev still faces an adversary that has a strong fighting tradition and «will never be a trifle, no matter what,» he said.
The minister, who is in Busan to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the truce that ended the Korean War in 1953, said he would raise the issue in conversations with Korean officials that Seoul would contribute more to Ukraine's war effort.
< p>Pressure is mounting on South Korea, which has one of the world's largest stockpiles of munitions and a developed defense industry, to supply Ukraine with the weapons it desperately needs.
Kyiv's ambassador to Seoul recently told the BBC that South Korean weapons could «change the course of the war», but so far their support has been limited to joining international sanctions and providing more than $200 million (£155 million) in humanitarian aid.
«If the Korean government is capable and is ready to provide more to Ukraine, which would be very welcome,” Mr. Hippie said.
But he acknowledged that South Korea, which faces constant warmongering from the nuclear-armed North, has stockpiled ammunition . and have maintained production capacity while facing an «existential threat» that they consider real and relevant every day.
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