Even the Pentagon did not expect the Ukrainian " Senior Western defense officials knew ahead of time that Kyiv planned to launch a two-pronged offensive to liberate territories from Russian occupation.. But they were surprised by the unexpectedly fast pace of the conquests of the Ukrainian army in the north..

This was reported to Politico by four Western officials.. Ukrainian troops broke through relatively lightly armed Russian positions in the Kharkiv region over the weekend, regaining control over thousands of square kilometers, and in some areas reaching the state border line. Russian forces retreated from the cities of Izyum and Kupyansk, which were key logistical hubs.

Kyiv told top-level US generals about a plan to launch an offensive on two fronts at once, an unnamed Ukrainian official told the publication.. But the governments of both countries were shocked by the successes in the Kharkiv region..

“Everyone was surprised by how the Russians fled,” said a Ukrainian government official who spoke on condition of anonymity..

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The offensive in the north was carried out by a relatively small contingent of Ukrainian forces - only a few brigades, each of which consisted of several thousand soldiers. This was told to Politico by a US official and a Western diplomat. Many Russian positions were controlled by Russian conscripts and poorly trained and armed fighters from the occupied regions of Ukraine. They could not resist the troops that were advancing on them.. The scale and pace of the Ukrainian offensive also increased the supply of Western weapons, in particular high-precision HIMARS systems and artillery shells from the United States.. This weapon allowed the Ukrainian military to deplete enemy forces by destroying Russian command centers and ammunition depots even before the offensive began..

Politico writes that the U.S. has long been providing Ukraine with a variety of intelligence about the situation on the battlefield, which Kyiv uses to make decisions about strikes and the movement of its troops, unnamed U.S. officials said..

“We definitely provide the Ukrainians with information about the conditions, but in the end it is the Ukrainians who make the choice. The Ukrainian military and political leadership decided how to conduct a counteroffensive, ”an unnamed US Department of Defense official explained..

Western officials are now keeping a close eye on how far Ukrainian forces can go in Donbas. It is possible that now they will be able to continue their offensive, using ammunition stockpiles, tanks and armored vehicles that the Russian soldiers abandoned when they fled in civilian vehicles..

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“I would wait to see if Ukraine can use in Donbas the momentum it has developed..

Russian forces are likely to try to recover from the retreat and conduct localized counterattacks,” said Michael Kofman, an expert at the CNA think tank..

Meanwhile, the clash continues near Kherson, where the Ukrainian army will try to increase pressure on the enemy in order to break the land corridor between Donbass and Crimea..

“The current period can be called a window of opportunity for Ukraine, which took the initiative not only to take away territories, but also to strike the Russian army, after which it will be difficult for them to recuperate throughout the winter,” Kofman added..