Armed Forces of Ukraine are considering several scenarios – Secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defence Council
The military command is working on various options for the development of events at the front, so the final plan for the counteroffensive is not known to anyone, Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, has stated.
Source: Oleksii Danilov on the Yedini Novyny (United News) 24-hour newscast, quoted by Ukrinform
Quote: "We are aware of all the processes taking place at the front. Any speculation about the plans of the Ukrainian military, including with respect to the counteroffensive, is entirely unsubstantiated. All this will be decided at the last minute, when the final decision is made."
Details: Danilov explained that the Ukrainian military has "not just one, or two, or three, or even four options for the development of events at the front," because it depends on many factors that are evaluated every day.
Quote: "And everyone should understand that we don’t only discuss the counteroffensive.
We understand that it is necessary to liberate all our territories [and return] to 1991 borders. Until we do that, until our Armed Forces do that, we cannot talk about the end of the war."
Earlier: Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that a large-scale counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces against the Russian invaders could begin in the summer.
Retired US Lieutenant General Ben Hodges believes that the leak of classified Pentagon documents will not impact Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Background:
- On 7 April, The New York Times, citing sources in the White House, reported a data leak as allegedly classified military documents detailing US and NATO plans to build up the Ukrainian army ahead of a planned counteroffensive appeared on Twitter and Telegram. More and more documents have been appearing in the media.
- Bellingcat investigators found that the classified data was posted on a Discord server called WowMao on 1 and 2 March, although the original source may be even earlier.
- Associated Press journalists talked to Discord users and found out that the secret documents were allegedly shared by a user with the nickname "Lucca", who may be a "child".
- There have been reports in the media claiming that Ukraine had apparently changed some of its military plans due to the leak of classified American documents and this has delayed its counteroffensive.
- On 13 April, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of a man suspected of involvement in the leak of classified information from the Pentagon. According to media reports, Jack Texeira, a 21-year-old air national guardsman of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested in North Dighton, Massachusetts. He is thought to be the leading figure in a small online gaming group where the secret intelligence documents were leaked.
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