 Ukraine can conduct counter-attack in four directions. After 15 months of fighting, the war in Ukraine is heading towards its most critical point. Kiev has assembled a force, 12 brigades and perhaps 60,000 troops strong if leaked Pentagon Papers are to be believed, equipped largely with NATO standard tanks, armor and artillery and trained in part in the west, according to the Guardian media outlet. At the same time, Russia's winter offensive is over and it has failed. The campaign to gain ground along the eastern front from Kremlin in the north to capture Bakhmut in the center and Vulladar in the south is faltering. The culminating point often considered by militaries as the optimum point for a counter-attack. Now Ukraine has to demonstrate given the western weapons it has received that it has a path to a military victory that it can push back the Russian invaders. The Guardian writes that the most obvious point for a Ukrainian attack is to strike from the Zaporizia sector south and southwest towards Melitopol or possibly southeast towards Burdiansk. The goal is ultimately to render Russia's long occupation of Crimea untenable which could be achieved if the Kersh bridge connects the peninsula to Russia proper can be blown again perhaps with the help of newly acquired storm shadow long range cruise missiles that could also strike at the key logistics hub of Dzenkoi. A riskiest strategy would be to try to launch an amphibious operation across the Nipro river farther west. An alternative to an attack aimed at cutting off Crimea would be to strike into the lightly populated northern Luhansk. It is possible a counterattack around Bakhmut.