AFP: Robotyne is still not under Ukrainian control, although the counteroffensive there continues - hard and slow

AFP news agency publishes a report from the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia region, where, according to Western military analysts, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have concentrated their main efforts during the counteroffensive.

Kyiv announced the capture of Robotyne in late August, but Ukrainian forces are still unable to move freely through the village, as it is in the area of Russian artillery fire, the article says.

Therefore, Ukrainian soldiers consider Robotyno a "gray zone" and cannot gather a significant number of heavy equipment and soldiers there, the agency reports.

AFP journalists spoke to eight Ukrainian soldiers involved in the fighting in the area, and according to them, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are "advancing slowly and with heavy losses."

Foreign media reported that in the area of Robotyno, Ukrainian troops broke through elements of the so-called "Surovikin line" in several places, i.e. a large network of Russian fortifications, including anti-tank ditches, concrete "dragon's teeth," trenches and other obstacles.

However, the main line is still holding, and Ukrainian troops have not yet been able to send a significant number of tanks and other armored vehicles through the gaps in the fortifications to gain operational space and break through towards the Azov Sea or the city of Tokmak.

The authors of the report report that the Ukrainian military are moving forward in small groups at dawn and advancing through forested areas. The Ukrainian Armed Forces were spotted on the outskirts of the next village, which is located 2-3 kilometers from Robotyno.

"If you move during the day, it is 100% death," one Ukrainian soldier told reporters.

Another soldier from the 65th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that the Ukrainian authorities' announcement of the capture of Robotyn was a PR stunt, as the village itself has no strategic value.

"We could have bypassed it," said the soldier. – "We like to make announcements about great victories. But the reality is different."

Another Ukrainian soldier told AFP that Ukrainian troops can only move for "three to five minutes" between Russian attacks. "There is no close combat," he said.

At the same time, according to the agency's interlocutors, for every one or two Ukrainian artillery shells, there are ten Russian ones. The same goes for attack drones.

At the same time, the Ukrainian military, who were interviewed by AFP reporters, do not intend to retreat and are determined to continue the offensive.

"The guys who came here know why they are here. They have to work: to push the enemy and attack, not sit in a ditch," said one of the agency's interlocutors.

Background. As a reminder, the military expert notes that the West has realized that the war will last for a long time, so Western politicians are moving to planning for the costs of a protracted war.