The Guardian view on Ukraine’s counteroffensive: even success has a cost | Editorial

A long-anticipated campaign seems to have begun. Kyiv desperately needs good news - but even that would come at a high price

The current fog of war in Ukraine is in large part artificially generated: Plans love silence," Kyiv observed in a typically well-executed video released on social media on Sunday, showing its soldiers holding fingers to their lips. After months of speculation, and amid perceptible impatience in some foreign capitals, its long-awaited counteroffensive appears at last to be in its preliminary stages.

The deputy defence minister has acknowledged that offensive actions" have begun in some areas. They appear to be testing and - perhaps - creating Russian vulnerabilities, presumably with a view to determining where to commit key troops along the 600-mile frontline. Russia has created multiple layers of defences; US sources have suggested that those could prove less formidable than they appear.