Without air superiority, there’s no “counteroffensive” - this is a mass suicide event. I have to wonder if the soldiers actually expressed optimism for a win or if was just Zuckerganda.
Maybe you are just uniformed, but at the moment in the Kherson area the Ukrainians have a high degree of air superiority. That's because they have been able to destroy S300 and S400 systems with NATO provided missiles and the HIMARS rocket artillery systems.
That's why Ukraine has twice been able to hit the headquarters of the Russian Navy is Crimea with a propeller driven drone. That's also why they are able to run drone attacks nightly on the Kherson front.
It is also why they are now able to use MI-24 gunships in direct attack mode against Russians in the Kherson area.
Recently the people complaining about losses and the desperate nature of their situation have been speaking Russian, not Ukrainian.
Like the guys shown in this video
Kiev Bob just showed up on the thread and told you not to believe your lying eyes.
"Air Superiority doesn't matter!" screams Kiev Bob.
"HIMARS are raining down on Moscow!! All S300 and S400 are destroyed!!!"
"The Russian air force has been shot down by Old Ukie Rifle Farmer!!"
The kill ratio, confirmed from several sources, seems to indicate that Ukraine does not have near enough airborne assets to protect their troops, which points to an operation to generate sympathy and support from outside Ukraine.