In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured that his army still needed time to prepare a much-anticipated counteroffensive aimed at driving out Russian forces.
The Ukrainian operation has been months in the making, while the front has been largely frozen for the past year, with much of the fighting taking place in the east for control of the devastated city of Baghmoud.
The Ukrainian military has trained new forces and stockpiled Western-supplied ammunition and equipment, which analysts say will be key to retaking territory they have occupied from the Russians.
“(With what we have) we can go ahead and win. But we will lose a lot of people. I think that is unacceptable. So we have to wait. We need a little more time”, Mr Zelensky said according to the BBC.
The timetable for Kiev to begin operations to retake areas Moscow has claimed annexed from Donetsk and Lugansk (east) and Kherson and Zaporijjia (south) remains an open question.
In this case, the UK announced that it will provide Ukraine with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, becoming the first country to provide this type of long-range weapon with a range of 250 kilometers.
Westerners have so far been reluctant to send weapons that would allow Ukraine to push deeper into Russian territory, fearing an escalation of fighting.
“The donation of these weapons systems gives Ukraine a better chance against Russia’s continued brutality”British Defense Minister Ben Wallace explained.
Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Pretoria, Reuben Brigadi, accused South Africa of supplying Russia with “arms and ammunition” despite its neutrality in the conflict with Ukraine.
Western weapons
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov promised at the end of April that “preparations are coming to an end” for a counter-attack.
“Equipment has been promised, manufactured and partially delivered. In broad terms, we are ready”he said. “God willing, (when there is) weather and commanders’ decision, we will do it.”
However, he regretted that the powerful Abrams tanks promised by the US were not available “No time to participate in this counterattack”Delivery should only take place by the end of 2023.
Ukraine, on the other hand, has received hundreds of other tanks, aircraft, ammunition and other weapons from its Western backers. Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, it has received more than $150 billion in aid, including $65 billion in the military sector.
For Ukrainian officials, the success of the counteroffensive is critical because it could determine future Western aid, with some calling for peace talks with Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday asked “not to put pressure on Ukraine to give up territories.”
Counterattacks in Bagmouth
Mr. Commenting on Zelensky’s interview, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, accused the Ukrainian president of being “dishonest” in his comments to the BBC on Thursday, saying the Ukrainian counteroffensive was “in full swing . . . full”.
On Wednesday, a senior Ukrainian military official said Kiev forces had launched counterattacks in Pakmut, the heart of fighting in the east, forcing Russian troops to retreat in some areas.
“In (Bakhmut’s) direction, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are making inroads on the flanks and, unfortunately, are succeeding in some places”, Whose men are in the front line in this war? Prigozhin said.
“The program of the Ukrainian army is in operation (…), all units that have been trained and received weapons, tanks and everything necessary are already fully engaged” In the fight, he added.
In apparent conflict with the Russian military hierarchy, Wagner’s boss threatened to withdraw from Bachmouth, deliberately maintained by the general staff, because his men lacked ammunition.
Controlled by 90% Russians, the city was the scene of the longest and deadliest battle since the start of the war.
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