One of Ukraine’s top aides said that the counteroffensive has yet to start despite the advances that they made along the frontlines.
“We have not yet launched a counteroffensive as such, and Russia is already saying: ‘We have already won, we have already repelled the counteroffensive,” Mykhailo Podolyak, Adviser to Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Podolyak’s remarks are in contrast to what Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy said on June 11, when he confirmed that the long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia has begun, although he did not talk about it in detail on which state the said actions were in.
It’s interesting what Vladimir Putin has said about Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
It’s important that Russia always feels that they don’t have much time left.
Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine— at what stage, I will not say, and I believe that we will definitely feel it all.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video interview last week also said that Ukrainian forces had certainly started their counteroffensive.
First, it can be stated with absolute certainty that this [Ukrainian] offensive has begun.
This is evidenced by the use of strategic reserves of the Ukrainian army.
Podolyak’s words also came as Ukraine started its push to recapture Russian-occupied territory last week.
According to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Mailar, Ukrainian Forces were pushing forward in at least three directions. Ukraine has made advances in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, as well as other areas.
Zelenskyy’s top aide’s comments also came after Putin in a recent meeting with war correspondents held last Tuesday. The Russian president claimed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has suffered catastrophic losses.
“Of all the losses and they are approaching an assessment that can be called catastrophic in terms of personnel, their structure of these losses is unfavorable for them.”
“Because losses, as we know them today, can be sanitary, or they can be irretrievable.”
“And usually, now I’m afraid to make a mistake, but somewhere there are irretrievable [Ukrainian] losses of 25%, a maximum 30%,” Pres. Vladimir Putin, Russian Federation said.
But Podolyak said Ukraine is just testing the frontlines at the moment, and their armed forces are slowly moving forward to look where for areas where Russia is weakest.
“[Ukraine’s Armed Forces] are gradually moving forward as part of a test, that is, they are looking at where it will be the weakest,” Mykhailo Podolyak, Adviser to Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy on Thursday claimed that Russian troops are responding fiercely to Ukraine’s attempts to break through their defenses.
In an interview with NBC, Zelenskyy claimed that Ukrainian troops are facing very tough resistance and claimed that Russia losing its campaign to Ukraine means losing the war.
Despite the difficulties, Zelenskyy said that the news from the Ukrainian frontline is generally positive, he then reiterated calls for supplies of F-16 fighter jets and said that Russia controls the air.
Zelenskyy’s comments came as the Washington Post cited Ukrainian officials saying that Ukraine was reluctant to delay its attacks against Russia, Washington Post said that Kyiv wants to demonstrate real progress in the battlefield before winter to assure its Western backers that Ukraine can prevail.
But Washington Post’s sources warned that Ukraine’s offensive action would lead to heavy losses in personnel and equipment, which they said would be exacerbated due to the lack of Western-made fighter jets and long-range artillery needed to attack Russian targets that are far from the frontlines.
Ukraine reportedly suffered heavy losses after Russian troops destroyed and seized German-Made Leopard tanks and U.S.-Made Bradley, and called them ‘their trophies’.
Pentagon, on the other hand, said it’s unable to confirm Kyiv’s losses of American-made Bradley vehicles.
