Ukraine won't announce start of spring offensive

⚡️Defense Ministry: 'Complex measures' of planned counteroffensive 'already underway' in the east.

"Complex measures" of Ukraine's planned counteroffensive are "already underway" in the east, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on national television on April 19.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 19, 2023

On April 19, in an interview with local media, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said the government won’t announce the start of the counteroffensive for a few reasons. First, it’s warfare and Ukraine doesn’t want Russia knowing its battle plans. Second, she said the public shouldn’t boil the counteroffensive down into one particular large-scale advance, adding in some ways the counteroffensive is already underway.

“We shouldn’t publicly boil down the counteroffensive to particular large-scale advances, because we are talking about the strategic goal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to free all our territories. We aim at freeing our territory and stopping the enemy in their advances.”

[Er, isn’t this pretty much Opsec 101? I’m not sure why anyone would expect an announcement of a major military operation in the first place. — Ed]