For several months, the Washington Post has been analyzing the successful counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.. To do this, journalists interviewed 35 people, including Ukrainian commanders, officials and soldiers, as well as military and political officials from the United States and Europe..

The Washington Post reveals five key facts about Ukrainian operations that allowed the return of control over a large part of the occupied territories.

Colonel General Alexander Syrsky proposed to launch a counteroffensive in the Kharkov region, although the General Staff asked for sabotage operations. The goal was to prevent Russia from concentrating all its forces in Kherson. But, according to Syrsky, this operation itself had a great chance of success.. To plan the offensive, the Ukrainian general met at the operational headquarters in the east with his top assistants and key brigade commanders.. On a 3D-printed map of the occupied part of Kharkiv region, each commander walked the route of his unit during the offensive, discussing coordination, potential unpredictable circumstances and worst-case scenarios.

“It was painstaking work,” Syrsky said..

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The United States did not participate in the planning of the counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region. American officials were no less surprised than Ukrainians when Russian defense lines fell apart. In addition to the game-changing weapon shipments to Kyiv, the US also passed on critical information that helped the Ukrainian military wisely distribute its limited ammunition stocks.. Ukraine constantly sent the US and allies a list of targets it wanted to destroy.. And often very accurate coordinates came in response..

In response to the failure in the Kharkiv region, Vladimir Putin appointed General Sergei Surovikin to the role of the first overall commander of Russian troops in Ukraine. With a direct connection to Surovikin, Putin began to get an unvarnished picture of the troubles on the battlefield, two informed people told the publication.. According to them, top-level officials in the field of defense have previously given Putin "

The Americans actively helped Ukraine plan a counteroffensive in the south. The Ukrainian army was under great political pressure to launch a broad counter-offensive on the entire southern front, which would also cover the Zaporozhye region and break the “land corridor” between Russia and Crimea. In July, in Germany, Ukrainian commanders, together with Western colleagues, conducted a simulation of military maneuvers.. The Americans and the British in their simulations did not find a scenario for which the operation would work.. This helped convince the Ukrainian side to narrow their plans and focus on the liberation of Kherson, which was the best military option..

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Kyiv was disappointed by the lack of progress, so at the end of September the Ukrainian government replaced the commander of the Kherson operation..

Decisions were kept secret so that Russia could not turn this information into their own propaganda victory.. The United States was notified about the personnel decisions of Kyiv. Major General Andrei Kovalchuk was replaced by Brigadier General Alexander Tarnavsky, whom Syrsky trusted.

“I think there were people who were losing patience waiting for advances in the south. The start was really good, and then everything seemed to stop, ”an unnamed US military officer told the publication..