Reality check: Ukraine's push on three fronts is measured in metres

The first casualty of the Ukrainian counteroffensive was wishful thinking. Any hope that Russian troops would abandon their trenches has been left far behind on the battlefield.

- Julian Borger

The occupying forces held firm, absorbing one attack after another, often counterattacking to recover lost ground, and mounting offensives of their own.

Ukrainian assaults got mired in dense, overlapping minefields. For all the focus on the delivery of Leopards and other western tanks before the launch of the offensive on 4 June, Ukrainian armour failed to help breach the lines.

Tanks were not a solution on their own. Without air superiority and overwhelming artillery support, they were vulnerable to Russian anti-tank missiles fired from the trenches and from gunships.

The Ukrainians had mine-clearing vehicles but not enough. They were priority targets for the Russians, who learned to stack anti-tank mines on top of each other to hobble them.

"You just can't overstate the role that these Russian minefields are playing," Matt Dimmick, a retired US colonel and former national security council director for Russia, said. "The stories that we're hearing from the frontlines is Ukrainian units come up against these defences where mines in some places are every metre or every two metres ... and it requires the Ukrainians to stop, dismount and push soldiers forward to clear those minefields and create lanes."

The Ukrainians adapted their tactics, switching to platoon-sized infantry units, often at night, to pick their way through the minefields. But that has meant progress has been slow. Pathways cleared through minefields have been quickly reseeded remotely by Russian drones or artillery.