The Pentagon records the advance of Ukrainian troops in their counteroffensive, but predicts it will be a hard and long fight. Therefore, it promises to focus on negotiations to support the needs of the Ukrainian army on the battlefield.

This was announced by Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder during a briefing on August 1. According to him, the US continues to record how the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Defense Forces "is moving forward."

At the same time, he added that it "has been and will continue to be a tough fight" for the Ukrainian troops.

"And so we're going to focus again on communicating with them, our allies and partners, to make sure that when they have needs on the battlefield, we can support them," Ryder said.

The U.S. defense official also recalled a comment by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive "will be a marathon, not a sprint."

"At the same time, we are going to continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary," Ryder assured.

We shall remind you that back in August 2022, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the war in Ukraine is "not a sprint distance, but a marathon", so it is also necessary to think about how to accumulate and conserve energy to ensure the capacity of the entire defense sector.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL:

- On the eve in the Ministry of defense of Ukraine said that the Ukrainian troops during the counteroffensive have already de-occupied 241 square kilometers in the south and east of the country.

- The ISW noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are conducting counter-offensive operations on three sections of the front, there is an advance in the Bakhmut area. On August 1, the heights near Kleshchyivka were probably taken under control.

- According to the AFU General Staff, the Ukrainian defenders continue to advance in the Bakhmut, Melitopol and Berdyansk directions, consolidate on the achieved borders, implement measures of counter-battery warfare.

- British Armed Forces Minister James Gippey noted that the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces is proceeding according to the plan developed jointly with the UK and the US during the winter. The Ukrainian military is holding back firepower in order to make a breakthrough at the right moment.

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