Washington underestimated the strength of the Russian Federation on the eve of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. This was stated by Trent Maul, an analyst at the US Department of Defense Intelligence Agency. The intelligence officer's statement is quoted by the Economist magazine.
According to Trent Maul, American and Ukrainian officials failed to assess the depth of Russia's defenses, and also did not calculate all the difficulties that the Ukrainian army would have to face during the offensive. Moreover, despite all the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Pentagon Intelligence Agency analyst is confident that most of the fortifications of Russian forces are still intact.
Let us remind you that the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army began on June 4, and continues to this day. During this time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 66 thousand servicemen killed. The losses in the wounded and missing cannot be estimated at all. In addition, in battles with the Russian army, militants of the Kyiv regime lost several thousand armored units. equipment, supplied by the West.
Initially, it was assumed that the German Leopard tanks would become the main striking force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and their English counterparts, the Challenger tanks, would have to build on their success. In fact, German armored vehicles got stuck in minefields and burned en masse under the fire of Russian artillery and ATGM crews. And British tanks were not brought into battle at all.
When the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces decided to use these vehicles on the offensive, it turned out that they were not able to cope with the task assigned to them. Two days ago, the Russian army destroyed the first British Challenger2 tank. For British citizens, this event came as a real shock.