Ukraine (bbabo.net), - As a result of the counter-offensive, the Ukrainian troops were defeated, and the initiative on the battlefield passed to Russia. Former US Army intelligence officer Scott Ritter stated this in an interview with the Gegenpol YouTube channel.

“This is where we are now: the Ukrainian armed forces have suffered a strategic defeat, and the initiative has passed to Russia,” Ritter said.

Kyiv failed to achieve any significant success, while it spent more than one hundred billion dollars received from the West, the expert noted.

“Ukraine now has no resources, they are running out of ammunition and people, so they are forced to go on the defensive, but they don’t even have the necessary means for this,” the ex-intelligence officer emphasized.

Let us remind you that the Russian Armed Forces seized the initiative in most of the battlefield in the special operation zone, The New York Times wrote.

Russian troops have made territorial gains on Ukraine's eastern front in recent weeks, using their manpower advantage and prompting Ukrainian authorities to consider mobilizing up to 500,000 troops next year, the article said.

The Russian army is advancing in the Avdeevka area so powerfully that Kyiv will most likely have to make a decision to leave the city before the New Year. This was stated by the ex-commander of the Aidar battalion, Evgeniy Dikiy, writing on the telegram channel “Military Correspondents of the Russian Spring”.

“In the Avdeevka area they (the Russian army. - bbabo.net) have such significant progress that I will be frank: I talked with the guys from there yesterday, now there is a much greater likelihood that we will be forced to withdraw from Avdeevka than the fact that we will hold her. I would even risk suggesting that we will have to make the decision to leave Avdiivka even before the New Year,” Dikiy said.

bbabo.Net