Ukraine's airpower problem and Russian landmines are what slowed Kyiv's big offensive, ex-NATO commander says

• Ukraine's big spring offensive was slowed by its lack of airpower, a former NATO commander said.
• That allowed Russia to put down mines in areas it believed Ukrainian forces would advance, he said.

A former NATO commander says that Ukraine's big spring offensive was hampered by its lack of airpower, which allowed Russia to put mines down in areas where it thought Ukrainian forces might try to advance.

Ukraine launched its spring counteroffensive in June with the goal of disrupting the frontlines in the country's southeast. But the offensive "was unfortunately lacking in one key element, and that's airpower," retired Gen. James Jones told RFE/RL in an interview.

That meant "the Russians had plenty of time to mine the areas where they thought the Ukrainian [ground forces] would advance," Jones said. "And it just caused everything to slow down."

"But I think one thing is clear: Mr. Putin's ambition to take over Ukraine in its entirety is not going to happen," he added.

Jones was NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe from 2003 to 2006 and later served as national security advisor to then-President Barack Obama.

Ukraine's spring counteroffensive was spearheaded by NATO-trained units, according to The Washington Post.

Ukraine also achieved a small but significant breakthrough in recent weeks when it crossed the Dnipro River into Russian-occupied territory.

If Ukraine can build on that victory, it could potentially continue crossing toward Crimea and blow up a crucial land bridge Russia built to connect Crimea to Russia.