Former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Larry Johnson has lashed out at the UK military over allegations about vegetation being a factor in stalling the advance of Ukrainian troops.
“Who knew that all the United States had to do to ensure the success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive was to provide them with a brigade of weed wackers, so they could have gone out there and cut down all the weeds,” Johnson said in an interview with a YouTube channel.
The ex-CIA analyst went on to say that he means “this is so nonsensical - you’ve got to wonder how in the world can alleged professional military people in Britain say something so stupid, so incredibly ignorant that they want to blame it [Kiev’s failed counteroffensive] on summer growth.”
He spoke a few days after the UK Defense Ministry claimed in its regular intelligence update that “undergrowth regrowing” in the southern part of the front line in Ukraine remains a likely factor “contributing to the generally slow progress of combat in the area.”
The ministry argued that arable land, which is abundant in the region, has been “left fallow for 18 months, with the return of weeds and shrubs accelerating under the warm, damp summer conditions.”
This provides extra camouflage cover for Russian defensive positions, complicating Kiev’s mine-sweeping efforts, according to the ministry. “Although undergrowth can also provide cover for small stealthy infantry assaults, the net effect has been to make it harder for either side to make advances,” the intelligence update pointed out.
On June 4, Kiev launched its counteroffensive in the vicinity of Zaporozhye, southern Donetsk and Artemovsk, using combat brigades trained by NATO instructors and armed with Western military equipment, including much-hyped Leopard 2 tanks. The advance, however, quickly came to a standstill, with Russian President Vladimir Putin stressing that the Ukrainian troops had been pushed back on all fronts as they suffered huge losses.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost over 43,000 servicemen and 4,900 units of different military equipment on the line of contact since the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive.