The UK believes the Ukrainian counteroffensive is making slow progress due to the overgrown terrain near the frontline.
Expectations for Kyiv’s spring counterattack against the Russian troops – who seized land to the east and south of Ukraine after invading last February – were high for months.
However, it didn’t actually start until summer, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy later claiming the delay came down to the slow delivery of weaponry from the West.
Since then, the counteroffensive has proceeded “more slowly” than expected, according to White House National Security Council.
In its latest update shared on Twitter on Thursday, the UK’s ministry of defence (MoD) has come up with a theory for the slow movements in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.
The MoD claimed: “Undergrowth regrowing across the battlefields of southern Ukraine is likely one factor contributing to the generally slow progress of combat in the area.
“The predominately arable land in the combat zone has now been left fallow for 18 months, with the return of weeds and shrubs accelerating under the warm, damp summer conditions.”
This is a contrast to the exceptionally cold conditions which hampered the Ukrainian (and Russian) forces in winter.
The MoD claimed that the overgrown foliage could work to Moscow’s advantage, noting: “The extra cover helps camouflage Russian defensive positions and makes defensive mine fields harder to clear.”
It continued: “Although undergrowth can also provide cover for small stealthy infantry assaults, the net effects has been to make it harder for either side to make advances.”
However, the White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has also defended the slow progress, saying on Wednesday: “I think it’s important to remember, when they’re running into these defensive lines, they’re sometimes three deep, and they’re protected by minefields.
“When you’re being shot at and shelled… it’s really painstaking work.”
Despite the slow progress, Antony Blinken claimed in July that Ukraine had “already taken back about 50%” of the land Russia has seized since the invasion.
“Unlike the Russians, Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their future, for their country, for their freedom,” he said. “I think that is the decisive element, and that’s going to play out. But it will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking I think at several months.”
Meanwhile, Moscow claimed in July that the counteroffensive has “failed”.