The Russian army has built powerful defensive positions on the seized territories in Ukraine. Even the US Army would not be able to break through them. This was the main reason for the unsuccessful counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the summer of 2023, Foreign Affairs writes.

The article notes that some blame Washington for the failures of the Ukrainian army, while others attribute the failure to strategic mistakes and poor preparation of the Armed Forces. They say that the brigades that were sent on the offensive had only five weeks of training in the West. For example, the British infantry during the Second World War had 22 weeks of training. Then there was training in units, and only after that the soldiers were sent into battle.

According to the Foreign Affairs expert, the point is rather that the Russian forces have shown themselves to be "competent defenders." By the summer of 2023, the Russian defense had become deep. Historically, it has been very rare to break through this kind of defense.

To overcome such a defense, one needs a great advantage in skills and motivation, and in 2023 Ukraine did not have them. The article emphasizes that it is unclear whether even US forces would have the skills necessary to accomplish such a difficult task.