Ukraine’s counteroffensive: breaking the Russian lines
Ukraine’s much-anticipated summer offensive has been slow to the point of stalling. But a recent breakthrough of the Russian lines has provided new hope for the country’s leaders – and its partners
For months, Ukraine has been probing Russian defensive lines for weaknesses in what is becoming an increasingly bloody and attritional war. It’s been a bloody summer in Ukraine. Progress has been agonisingly slow on the much-trailed summer offensive for several reasons. One of them is the landmines littering Ukrainian roads and fields in astonishing numbers.
Daniel Boffey, the Guardian’s chief reporter, has been on the ground watching how infantry sappers painstakingly advance inch by inch, clearing territory of lethal mines that kill and maim Ukrainian soldiers every day. He tells Michael Safi about the gallows humour that prevails in the mine-clearing squads and why the most skilful sappers are seen as more valuable targets than some generals.
The Ukrainian advance may have been slow, but as foreign correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison explains, last week they made a major breakthrough. She was first to reveal that Ukrainian forces led by Brig Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskiy had broken through the first and strongest of the enemy lines near Zaporizhzhia.
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