1 minute video posted on social media
“Most Direct Mention” NYT
‘Mud Season’ Over, Weapons Safe
Observe the imminent ‘Spring Counterattack’
Soldiers standing on dry land Ukrainian soldiers hug as they take a break on the front line near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on February 27, 2017. AP Yonhap News
One of the top generals of the Ukrainian army suggested that a “counterattack” was imminent in Ukraine. There is also analysis that the lead-up to the great counter-attack has already begun.
Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzny posted a one-minute video on Telegram on the 27th (local time) showing Ukrainian forces preparing for battle, saying, “It’s time to take ours back.”
In this cinematically directed video, Ukrainian soldiers shout, “God bless our decisive attack, our holy revenge, and our holy victory.”
The video was broadcast throughout Ukraine on television. It quickly spread to social networking services (SNS) as well. The New York Times (NYT) pointed out, “Although the timing of the counterattack remains unclear, Commander Zaluzni’s comments are the most direct reference to the approaching time for a counterattack.”
Oleksi Danlow, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Committee, was interviewed by the BBC on the same day and when asked about a counter-attack, he said, “We are always ready.”
Mikhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, told The Guardian that preliminary operations for anti-crime have already begun. He said, “The counter-attack is not a matter of one day, a certain date, or a certain time, but a complex process. It is a continuous process of liberation. “The intensity is going to get stronger,” Podoliak said.
In fact, Ukraine has recently been increasing its strikes against targets in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including mainland Russia close to the border with Ukraine, such as the southern Russian provinces of Rostov and western Belgorod, in as well as the Kram Peninsula and Zaporozhye, which were forcefully annexed by Russia in 2014.
Disruption of the internet and telecommunications in parts of the territories occupied by Russia is also being interpreted as a sign of an imminent counter-attack by the Ukraine. According to NetBlock, a monitoring organization that monitors internet security, internet service was suspended on the 26th in strategically important areas such as the Crimean Peninsula and Russian-occupied parts of Zaporizhia, south-east Verdyansk and south Melitopol.
Ukraine’s notorious “Rasputica” (mud season) problem, which makes it difficult for vehicles and troops to move around every spring and autumn, when the ground turns to mud, has also been resolve. The Washington Post reported on the 26th that “the conditions are almost set for a counter-attack” as the temperature in Ukraine recently reached around 25.5 degrees Celsius and the hot and dry weather continued. After preparing for a counter-attack all winter, Ukraine has been waiting for the rain to stop and the temperature to rise and the ground to harden.
Ukraine is accelerating its acquisition of the latest weapons from the West ahead of a counter-attack. It has been confirmed that Ukraine, which received cruise missiles called “Storm Shadow” from Britain earlier this month, has also requested cruise missile support from Germany. Reuters reported on the 27th that a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense acknowledged German media reports the previous day that Ukraine had recently requested help from Germany for the Taurus, a cruise missile with a range of 500 km. However, the German Ministry of Defense did not mention specific details such as the possibility of actual support.
