The counter-offensive started just over a week ago.
Heavy casualties have been reported from both sides as Ukraine tries to push south.
– We knew that this would be difficult and that it would take time, says Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lidén.
The widely publicized Ukrainian counter-offensive began at the beginning of last week and so far Ukraine claims that man liberated seven villages and about 100 square kilometers.
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lidén describes it as probing attacks, by four, five different units.
– You feel your way with smaller companies. They have met very strong opposition. If we now get progress somewhere, we will be able to fill up with brigade-sized battalions moving south, he says.
Resistance expected
The losses, both in terms of human life and resources, have already been great.
– It is already expensive now and it will be even more expensive later when you get through more defense lines, says Peter Lidén.
Many expected that the Russian resistance would be fierce. Great power Russia has been preparing for a long time.
– What Ukraine is doing here, no other defense force has done in modern times, to go on the offensive against a prepared great power, without actually having any type of air capacity. It is absolutely extreme. It has been known that this will be difficult and it will take time.
Map: This is where the battles are fought in Ukraine.
Map: This is where the battles are fought in Ukraine.
“Every single potato field is mined”
TV4 News’ foreign correspondent Johan Fredriksson has visited the war front in recent days. He agrees with the lieutenant colonel’s analysis.
– The Russians have had months to build up proper defense lines and, among other things, every single potato field and every field has been minuted, which makes it incredibly deadly for the Ukrainian soldiers to advance, says Fredriksson.
The foreign reporter is faced with the same problem; the piece of the puzzle missing from the Ukrainian ground forces is air support.
– You don’t have enough helicopters and airplanes that can protect over from. This means that this offensive will be very costly and complicated, he says.
That’s how long the offensive can last
Ukraine already wants to demonstrate success, but the goal is to get territorially further south, so that in the long run you can reach the Crimean peninsula, which has been occupied since 2014, explains the lieutenant colonel.
– If you want to talk about this offensive being successful or not, you should know what the goals for it are. We don’t know how far geographically they want to go with this. I think the offensive will continue during the summer and early autumn, says Peter Lidén.
– We won’t see anything definitively decisive about the war this year, I don’t think so, he continues.