Ukraine's Counteroffensive Is in the Weeds

Ukraine's 2-month-old push to recapture Russian-occupied territory has been hampered by undergrowth rapidly regrowing on the battlefield in the warm, damp summer, British defense officials have said.

A statement said that arable land in the combat zone has been left fallow since the start of Russia's invasion 18 months ago and that weeds' and shrubs' regrowth has accelerated in the sultry conditions.

Kyiv's counteroffensive started around June 4, and Ukraine has admitted it has progressed more slowly than expected. There are concerns among allies that have supplied equipment and weaponry that hoped-for gains have not materialized.

"The extra cover helps camouflage Russian defensive positions and makes defensive minefields harder to clear," the ministry said on Thursday,

While undergrowth can provide cover for small infantry assaults, "the net effect has been to make it harder for either side to make advances." Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment.

Ukraine's counteroffensive has made incremental gains, but its forces have faced formidable Russian defenses in the southern sector of the front and Kyiv's ground forces are slowly advancing on their Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia axes.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank, said on Wednesday that the counteroffensive has also continued to make some progress around Bakhmut, the city in the Donetsk oblast that has been the scene of fierce fighting for months.

Russian sources reported that Moscow's troops had repelled Ukrainian attacks in the in the south of the country, near Staromayorske on the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia Oblast border, and near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia, the ISW said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday that Russian attacks over the previous 24 days had targeted 10 oblasts, killing at least two people and injuring at least seven more.

The Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Wednesday that Russian forces shelled eight communities in the region in dozens of attacks, causing more than 200 explosions. The assaults involved the use of artillery, mortar shelling and missiles launched from helicopters.

Vladislav Shapsha, governor of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, said on Thursday that six drones were shot down overnight by air defenses in his region, which is southwest of Moscow and north of Bryansk Oblast, which borders Ukraine.

It follows recent drone strikes on Moscow, during which a high-rise building in the city center was damaged on Monday, while a day later the same skyscraper was reportedly targeted again by drones.

Russia blames Ukraine for the strikes, although in keeping with previous drone attacks, Kyiv has not claimed responsibility.