The counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is progressing steadily, but it will take long time and will be "very bloody," said head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, General Mark Milley, The Guardian has reported.

“Army general Mark Milley told the National Press Club in Washington that the counteroffensive was ‘advancing steadily, deliberately working its way through very difficult minefields ... 500 meters a day, 1,000 meters a day, 2,000 meters a day, that kind of thing,’” the ezine said on Saturday.

Milley said he was not surprised progress was slower than some people and computers might have predicted. “War on paper and real war are different. In real war, real people die. Real people are on those front lines and real people are in those vehicles. Real bodies are being shredded by high explosives,” The Guardian quoted Milley as saying.

“What I had said was this is going to take six, eight, 10 weeks, it’s going to be very difficult. It’s going to be very long, and it’s going to be very, very bloody. And no one should have any illusions about any of that,” Milley added.