Marches, border breaches, and nuclear… What is the Ukrainian counterattack like?

Throughout the month of May, the Ukrainian counter-attack was a “guerrilla war” – according to military experts to Sky News Arabia, as it came in several forms, including march attacks, fires, attempts to blow up a nuclear power plant and breach borders.

According to experts, Moscow is facing “frustration” from “unexpected resistance” from Ukraine, considering its counterattack as a “major adventure” in return for the readiness of the Russian army.

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Mykhailo Podolak, advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the counterattack began several days ago and is continuing.

• Battles are raging along 1,500 kilometers of the border, according to the Italian “Rai” channel.
• Ukraine will use Western weapons against the Russians to liberate Crimea and Donbass.

What are the signs of “guerrilla warfare”?

Since the beginning of this May, Russia has been witnessing explosions and sabotage operations, which included, in particular, the derailment of two freight trains and the burning of a fuel tank due to a drone attack, as well as the targeting of one of its ships in the Black Sea.. These are the most prominent of these operations:

• Ukrainian forces shelled several areas of Donetsk Province with 155mm and 152mm shells about 25 times, according to Russia’s Donetsk Representative Office.
• A fire broke out in one of the balconies, on Wednesday night, in the building of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Frunzenskaya Embankment.
• A huge fire in the “Odintsovo” district, on the outskirts of Moscow, completely destroyed the “Akus” market for building materials.
• Attacks with rallies in Belgorod, Russia, on Thursday night, damaged vehicles, homes and public buildings in the region, including a gas pipeline, according to local governor Yachislav Gladkov.
• An infiltration attempt, sabotage attacks in Belgorod, and the shelling of about 20 villages with missiles, killing a civilian, injuring 13 others, and killing 70 fighters, according to the Kremlin.
• Ukrainian attack on the ship “Ivan Khors” of the Black Sea Fleet with drone boats in the Bosphorus Strait.
• An attempt to blow up nuclear power plants, Thursday, by planting explosives weighing 36.5 kilograms at the Leningrad and Kalinin plants.
• A grain freight train derailed between the stations Chistenko and Pochtovoy in Simferopol, which was carried out by unknown persons, according to the governor of Sevastopol.
• A drone attack, Thursday, on Sevastopol, and another with two planes, on the forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Russia’s strict measures, including the deployment of nuclear weapons

As a result of these attacks, Moscow responded with strict measures, including:

• Destroy all boats that targeted the ship “Ivan Khors” in the Bosphorus Strait, according to the Russian defense.
• Projection rally, last Tuesday, in Belgorod.
• Evacuation of residents of 9 towns from Belgorod.
• Ukraine claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the Kremlin in early May.
• The Russian Federal Security Service has arrested two Ukrainians, Alexander Maistrok, born in 1978, and Eduard Usatenko, born in 1974. A third, Russian-Ukrainian Yuri Kishchak, is being sought, on the background of an attempt to target nuclear stations.
• Destroying Ukrainian strongholds, Thursday morning, on the Pervomaisky axis in Donetsk.
• Attacking the capital Kyiv with drones, according to the Ukrainian military.
• Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Chernivtsi.
• The launch of 36 drones, on the night of Wednesday and Thursday, from the north and the south, according to President Vladimir Zelensky.
• The Swedish consulate closed and expelled 5 diplomats.
• Transported tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
• The State Duma adopts a law imposing fines of up to one million rubles or imprisonment for a period of up to 15 days for those who distribute or publish maps or photos that question the territorial integrity of Russia.
• The Russian authorities announced, on Thursday evening, that they had intercepted a Ukrainian missile in the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine.

Mutual accusations between Russia and Ukraine

Commenting on the start of the Ukrainian counterattack, the deputy in the Russian State Duma for the Crimea region, Mikhail Sheremet, said that the Kiev authorities:

• It is deceptively trying to create a false impression in the West about its capabilities.
• If you consider the bombing and killing of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure as a counterattack, then the time has come to work in detail to neutralize the Ukrainian formations and to launch tactical strikes on the western borders to cut off the supply of weapons.

As for the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, he described the attempt to launch attacks on nuclear energy facilities in Russia as hostile acts on the part of the Kiev regime.

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused, on Thursday, Russia of continuing to “terrorize” his country through the attacks it launched during the night.

According to the Russian military expert Sergei Leonkov, “The West entered the war directly against Russia, and not merely by providing aid to Ukraine.”

He described the counterattack as “may constitute suicide for the Ukrainians in light of the logistical and military fortifications of Russia, and it will be one of the biggest Western adventures.”

David Khalfa, a researcher at the Jean-Jaurès Foundation in Paris, said, “There is Russian frustration with the Ukrainian resistance, as he considered that the threat the Russians face is their entry into a ‘guerrilla war’.”

As for Harlan Ullmann, a military expert and retired US army officer, he says that the Ukrainian counterattack may repeat the scenario of the Battle of Ardennes, in which Hitler’s forces were defeated.

Ulman added that the Russian army has an opportunity to turn this attack into a resounding defeat for the Kiev army.