[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Itse

No. This is going about as well as at least I was expecting. This was never going to be pretty or fast, and personally I consider it a positive sign that progress is still being made, even if slow. The war is at an attritional stage, and I've seen nothing that suggest Ukraine couldn't keep doing what they're doing as long as morale holds.

I'm getting the impression that it's going a lot slower than hoped for mainly due to the Russian defences and being well dug in.

Why is Ukraine's progress so slow?
In two months Ukrainian troops have advanced, at most, about 10 miles (16km) in two areas along the region's 100-mile (160km) front, according to independent analysis.

Progress is being made, but it is slower than Ukraine and its Western allies had hoped.

Ukrainian forces have been attacking on three fronts, using Western-supplied equipment and training, and probing for weak spots along the entire 700-mile (1,125km) front line.

But the Russians foresaw their intentions, and they have spent months building the most extensive fortifications in recent history.

Triple layers of trenches, bunkers, concrete pyramid tank-traps (so-called "dragon's teeth") and ditches - laced with thousands of landmines - present a massive obstacle to any Ukrainian advance, as illustrated in the satellite image below, taken near Tokmak.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66383377