John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman, told reporters last week that criticizing Ukraine’s counteroffensive does not serve any purpose. 

“We’ve all seen the criticism by anonymous officials out there, which frankly is not helpful” to Ukraine and its effort on the battlefield, Kirby said, according to RT, the Russian outlet.

The new line out of Washington is that Ukraine has achieved some of its objectives in its counteroffensive that began in June 2023.

Kirby told reporters on Friday that there have been some tangible gains in the previous three days and that Kyiv’s forces have had “success against the second line of Russian defenses,” especially in Zaporizhzhya, near the country’s biggest nuclear power plant.

The Washington Post reported last month that it is now clear that Ukraine will fail to achieve one of its top objectives, which is to retake the pivotal city of Melitopol. The paper, citing a classified forecast, reported that “Kyiv won’t fulfill its principal objective of severing Russia’s land bridge to Crimea in this year’s push.”

The assessment lists some of the reasons that Ukraine will likely fall short of its goals, which include Russia’s “brutal proficiency in defending occupied territory through minefields and trenches.”

While the Western media has been in total support of Ukraine’s effort to repel Russian forces from the country, there have been recent reports that have called the counteroffensive into question, which has drawn criticism from leadership in Ukraine that demands total loyalty. 

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said last month that criticizing the slow-moving effort was the equivalent of “spitting into the face of (the) Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward and liberating one kilometer of Ukrainian soil after another,” Reuters reported.

“I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine, and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves,” he said. 

TRENDPOST: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted in June that the counteroffensive was struggling and told reporters that the war is not a Hollywood movie. (See “COMEDIAN ZELENSKY ADMITS COUNTEROFFENSIVE IS FAILING, SAYS IT’S NOT A MOVIE” 27 June 2023, “AS FORECAST: DON’T COUNT ON UKRAINE’S COUNTEROFFENSIVE” 5 Jul 2023, “U.S. ADMITS WHAT WE HAD FORECAST: UKRAINE’S COUNTEROFFENSIVE CONTRACTING, RUSSIAN CAPABILITIES UNDERESTIMATED” 11 Jul 2023, and “LONG-ANTICIPATED COUNTEROFFENSIVE UNDERWAY IN UKRAINE: THE WINNER IS?” 13 Jun 2023.)

“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” he said, after admitting that military operations are progressing “slower than desired.”

“What’s at stake is people’s lives,” he said.

Polish General Rajmund Andrzejczak, the chief of the general staff, told Ukrinform that it is “immoral” to criticize Ukraine’s effort because the country is up against a major world power, not a small country or organized group.

“Therefore, I would rather ask these commentators, if they were in the place of the Ukrainians: would they prepare better and have more progress? Therefore, I would change the focus in order to morally support Ukrainians, rather than criticize them. This is immoral from a human point of view,” Andrzejczak said. He said the energy used to criticize Ukraine’s effort would be better spent considering how to provide Ukraine with more weapons. 

TREND FORECAST: Anyone who questions the outcome of the Ukraine War is considered a “Putin Puppet,” and the only acceptable position is that Ukraine must win to save democracy as we know it.

The West has committed itself to Ukraine’s defense in hopes of weakening Russia and sending a message to China that any invasion of Taiwan would lead to the same fate. No amount of Ukrainian deaths or destruction will lessen the current administration’s resolve because it would be a fatal foreign policy blow for President Joe Biden, who only cares about re-election. Again, it is not if Ukraine will be defeated by Russia… it is only when.