Almost one month since Kyiv launched a long-awaited counter-offensive aimed at retaking Russian-held territory, Ukrainian forces have yet to register significant gains, according to both Western and Ukrainian officials.
“The counter-offensive … is difficult,” Admiral Rob Bauer, a Dutch naval officer who also serves as chairman of NATO’s military committee, said on July 3.
“People should never think that this [counter-offensive] is an easy walkover,” he told reporters at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters.
For months, Kyiv and its Western allies had promised a robust counter-attack aimed at “liberating” territory previously captured by Russia. 
Drone footage shows armored vehicles on the move in an unidentified location after the Defence Ministry in Moscow said that Russian forces have thwarted a major Ukrainian offensive in Donetsk, released on June 5, 2023. (Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via Reuters)
But since the counter-offensive began early last month, Ukrainian forces have only managed to retake some 50 square miles in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, according to officials in Kyiv. …