USA: The Ukrainians are recapturing their territories from the Russians
According to the US Pentagon, the Ukrainian army has recaptured territories occupied by Russian forces.
The Ukrainian military is launching counterattacks that have made it possible, especially in the south, to retake territory occupied by Russian troops that is having difficulty communicating, a Pentagon spokesman said today.
The Ukrainian military is "now, in some cases, under attack," John Kirby told CNN, noting that he was "pursuing Russian soldiers and pushing them away from areas where the Russians used to be."
"We know that they have carried out counterattacks (...) especially in the last few days in Mykolaiv," a key city in southern Ukraine, he added.
"We have seen (these territorial gains) increase in recent days" in favor of Ukraine, the US official said. "It is a real testament to their ability to fight according to their plans, to adapt and, again, to try to repel Russian forces," he added.
The latter "do not conduct their operations with the coordination one would expect from a modern army," Kirby claimed.
"Their commanders do not always communicate, there is not always coordination between the air and ground forces," he told US television.
"We saw tensions between the air and ground forces over how they supported each other, well or with difficulty," and so did the navy. "They have problems with the command and control" of the soldiers.
"Very specifically, they find it difficult to talk to each other and this leads to the use of mobile phones in some cases," said the US official.
And in addition, "they run out of fuel, they run out of food".
"That's why we believe we have not seen (recently) any real significant progress from the Russians, except in the south, where the forces are closer to their rear base in Crimea," he added. "So, yes, they have a problem," he said.
Major cities in Ukraine, however, are facing Russian bombing that has killed hundreds of civilians.
