Pentagon on Counteroffensive: Ukraine's Advance Comes at Cost of Huge Efforts

The Pentagon commented on the claim that the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is taking place at a slower rate than expected.

"They're using new equipment, and they're doing that all while being shot at and bombed, not to mention the... extensive mining that the Russians have put in place.  And so where they are gaining hundreds of meters a day, maybe a kilometer a day in some places, they're doing that at great cost in terms of effort.." he said at a briefing.

He stressed that now, the Ukrainian soldiers are in the midst of fierce fighting.

According to him, the Ukrainian military conducts its counteroffensive operations "in excellent sequence on the battlefield." "It may not be at the speed that we would prefer...So this is hard warfare, it's in really tough terrain, it's under fire, and really, when you consider all of that, it's pretty remarkable".

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that predicting the course of a counteroffensive is impossible due to the "nature of war."