Putin's ex-adviser, who fled to the United States, no longer believes in the Ukrainian Armed Forces' chances of success
Over the past seven and a half months, Russia has significantly strengthened the defense of new regions, and now Ukraine's offensive success is not at all guaranteed.
Former adviser to the Russian President Andrei Illarionov, who emigrated to the United States, stated this in an interview with journalist Alexander Shelest, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to Illarionov, it was necessary to launch a counteroffensive last year, but now even talk about it has begun to subside.
“During the time that the battle for Bakhmut was going on for more than seven months... now people talk differently about what was important, not important, strategic importance, not strategic importance.
But while the battle for Bakhmut was going on, during these seven and a half months in the Zaporozhye region, first of all, partly in the Donetsk, partly in the Kherson region, such lines of defense were built that were not there seven and a half months ago. With all the trenches, with all the gouges, with all the hedgehogs, with all the minefields, and other systems of engineering barriers that did not exist seven and a half months ago.
“They were not there last summer, and if that counter-offensive of the Ukrainian troops, about which so much has been said recently, but which has not yet begun, if it had begun either seven months ago, or last summer, when these fortifications did not exist in northern Tavria, then the chances of achieving a result, including the result that was talked about so much, say, at least about access to the coast of the Sea of Azov, then this option looked quite realistic.
And now, judging by how much talk on this topic is weakening, there is no longer any energetic talk that such goals can be achieved as a result of such a counter-offensive,” Illarionov said.
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