Russia and Ukraine exchange march attacks... and Kyiv redeploys its forces under US directives

 Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone attacks, while US officials revealed criticism and advice for the Ukrainian army's movements, which resulted in the recent redeployment of forces.

In conjunction with the counterattack inside Ukrainian territory, Kiev is launching drone attacks targeting the Russian interior, especially the capital, Moscow, but a spokesman for the US State Department said, on Wednesday, that his country does not encourage or enable anyone to launch attacks inside Russia.

The spokesman added that it is up to Kyiv to choose how to defend itself in the face of the Russian invasion, noting that Moscow can end the war at any time by withdrawing from Ukraine.

This came after the Russian authorities said that they shot down drones that tried to attack the capital, Moscow, on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian army said, on Wednesday, that Russia attacked with drones the city of Odessa in the south and areas on the Danube River last night.

The United States provided Kyiv with massive aid in the form of weapons and other military equipment under the pretext of countering the Russian invasion but has repeatedly said it does not support attacks inside Russia.

On the other hand, Ukrainian forces have begun transferring combat units from the battle fronts in the east to the south, as they aspire to penetrate the Russian defense lines and cut off the main Russian supply lines before winter comes, according to the directions of American experts in strategic planning, according to the New York Times.

The United States attributed the failures of the Ukrainian counterattack to break the Russian defenses to "the deployment of a large number of Ukrainian forces in the wrong locations," according to US and Western officials.

The main goal of the counterattack is to cut off Russia's supply lines in southern Ukraine by severing the land bridge between Russia and Crimea, but instead of focusing on that, Ukrainian leaders have distributed their forces and combat materiel roughly evenly between east and south, according to the newspaper.

As a result, Ukraine redeployed its forces and placed more troops near Bakhmut and other cities in the east than near Melitopol and Berdyansk in the south, two strategically important fronts, the officials said.

The New York Times said that strategic planners from the American side advised Ukraine to focus on the front heading towards Melitopol and to focus on penetrating the first Russian defense line represented by minefields and other defense lines, even if this caused the loss of more soldiers and equipment.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that only a change in tactics could change the tempo of counterattacks.

Another American official considered that the Ukrainians were spread too far apart and needed to gather their fighting force in one place.

Ukraine may now need to take US advice seriously, according to the New York Times, especially with the continued losses it has incurred and Russia's continued superiority in terms of the number of troops and equipment.

The United States and its allies have become even more urgent in their request, as General Mark Milley, Chief of Staff of the American Armed Forces, his British counterpart, Admiral Tony Radakin, and the Commander-in-Chief of NATO Joint Forces in Europe, American General Christopher Cavoli, urged in a video conference. On August 10, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, General Valery Zalogny, agreed to focus on one major front, two officials familiar with the details of the call confirmed.

U.S. officials say there are signs that Ukraine has begun moving some of its most experienced combat forces from east to south, but most of those units have been reconfigured multiple times after suffering significant battle losses during the eastern Ukrainian counteroffensive.

After the new redeployment, the Ukrainian forces penetrated at least one Russian defense line in southern Ukraine, according to US and Ukrainian officials who indicated that the Ukrainian forces are very close to regaining control of the strategic village of Robotin in the southeast of the country, which was occupied by Russian forces, considering that restoring the village It would be a good indicator.

In recent days, Ukrainian forces have been able to achieve some success in the south and target some Russian supply lines, but achieving further progress may be a slow and difficult process given the challenges it faces.

US officials told the newspaper that Ukraine has about a month or six weeks to continue its counter-offensive before it is forced to halt its offensive by winter.

And while US officials do not confirm that the fighting will not stop completely during the rainy season, they expect that the Ukrainian forces will face much greater difficulties than now in penetrating the Russian defense lines.

U.S. officials expected Ukrainian forces to reach halfway to the Sea of Azov by winter when cold weather might prevent further fighting, and a senior U.S. official said this would be a "partial success."

However, some analysts expect that the counter-battle will fail even to achieve this limited goal, according to the "New York Times".

Even if the counterattack fails to reach the shores of the Sea of Azov, officials and analysts say that if Ukrainian forces can advance far enough to put the coastal road within range of Ukraine's artillery and other attacks, it could cause more problems for Russian troops in the south that depend on that route for supplies...

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