According to NYT publication, the first plan for a broad offensive in the south of Ukraine to recapture Kherson Oblast and cut off Mariupol from Russian troops in the east was recognized as unsustainable by both the Ukrainian and foreign military. Therefore, they prepared an alternative plan with two offensives in the Kherson and Kharkiv directions.
"The plan, which emerged during discussions in mid-summer, relied heavily on US intelligence and high-tech weapons. But US officials insist that the merit of the offensive rests entirely with Mr. Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian military, which won a huge victory with a relatively small force in Kharkiv," NYT reports.
