WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2022) The United States and Ukraine collaborated to plan Kiev's purported counteroffensive in the south of the country to ensure they did not overextend forces and get stuck fighting on multiple fronts, CNN reported on Wednesday.
The Pentagon conducted so-called "war-gaming" with Ukraine to help them understand how to muster and apply the forces needed to be effective in different situations, multiple US, western and Ukrainian sources reportedly said.
Ukraine was considering a larger counteroffensive at first, but reduced the scope of their mission to the south in the Kherson region, according to the report.
Ukraine lost approximately 1,700 troops in two days during the attempted counteroffensive, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. Four combat aircraft, two Su-25s, one Su-24, and one MiG-29 and an Mi-8 helicopter were also lost, as well as 63 tanks, 59 infantry fighting vehicles and 14 armed pickup trucks, the ministry said.
Ukraine launched the counteroffensive against territories which came under the control of Russian and Donbas forces as part of the special military operation to protect the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics from aggression by the Ukrainian military.
