ISW: Western reluctance to supply Ukraine with weapons has limited its ability to continue counter-offensives
Western delays in providing Ukraine with long-range weapons, air defense systems and tanks have limited Ukraine's ability to seize opportunities for larger counter-offensives against the backdrop of Russian military failures. This is reported by the American Institute for the Study of War.
Analysts note that the Russian invaders had the initiative and were on the offensive from February 24 to July 3, 2022, after which their attacks culminated. Ukraine managed to seize the initiative, enabling a large-scale counter-offensive to liberate the western part of the Kherson region in August.
However, since then, Ukraine has been unable to launch a new major counter-offensive, which allowed the conflict to escalate into a positional war and provided the Russians with an opportunity take back the initiative and raise the bar for future Ukrainian counter-offensives.
The ISW notes that Russia took advantage of the delays in providing weapons to Ukraine and resumed its offensive on Bakhmut in late July, although it also gained momentum only after , when the «Wagnerites» joined him.
«Thus, the constant delays in the supply of Western material support, when it became obvious that it was or would soon be needed, contributed to the prolongation of the war», — the report says.
