Russia has own counterstrike ‘ready to go’ against Ukraine offensive: Analyst

Russia has prepared its own counterstrike to use against Ukraine which is moving forward with its counter-offensive operations across all fronts, military analyst Michael Clarke said on Tuesday.

Clarke who served as Director General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) from 2017-2015 told Sky News: “The Russians are building up a lot of troops around Kreminna in the north.”

He added: “While [the] Ukrainians are preparing this sort of arc of possible offensive, the Russians are trying to get north of them in Kharkiv… tens of thousands of troops are building up, so Russia has its own counter-blow ready to go.”

Clarke underscored that Ukraine’s inability to achieve air superiority has given Russia an advantage, facilitating airstrikes on military convoys and personnel immobilized in heavily mined regions. He said: “If you are unable to rapidly traverse these minefields, you turn into a sitting duck.” He emphasized that Ukrainians must first dismantle those mines before resuming progress.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stressed on Monday the importance of bolstering the country’s air defenses to defend against Russian attacks. “Unfortunately, our state does not yet have enough high-quality air defense systems to protect our entire territory and shoot down all enemy targets. The enemy is taking advantage of this,” he said.

Ukraine’s strategic approach appears to concentrate on penetrating the Russian lines’ center, a move that, according to Clarke, is the “most challenging endeavor”. He added that Ukraine might attempt to divert Russian forces from this area by initiating another operation further west.