British military expertise underpinned a successful counter-offensive in eastern Ukraine which has seen Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces regain hundreds of square miles of territory previously occupied by Russia. Mr Zelenksy apparently gained confidence that his troops could prevail after a series of briefings from Washington and London, Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s policy chief, explained.
Mr Kahl’s remarks came after Russian state television claimed British-trained Ukrainian soldiers had helped their country gain the upper hand, with one analyst describing the situation as “troubling”.
Thousands of Russian troops fled Izium at the weekend, leaving behind large amounts of ammunition and equipment, in their worst defeat since they were driven back from the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in March.
Mr Kahl, speaking to the New York Times, said: “We did do some modelling and some tabletop exercises.
“That set of exercises suggested that certain avenues for a counter-offensive were likely to be more successful than others.
“We provided that advice, and then the Ukrainians internalised that and made their own decision.”
The briefing demonstrated to Mr Zelensky that Moscow would have problems rapidly to reinforcing troops in northeast Ukraine and would likewise struggle to redeploy troops from the south.
Speaking in Washington yesterday, John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesman, said the US would soon provide more supplies of arms to Ukraine – although he insisted it was too early to say whether the gains made signalled a watershed moment in the war.
He added: “What you’re seeing is certainly a shift in momentum by the Ukrainian armed forces”.
