Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published on Saturday.
“We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelensky told the Wall Street Journal.
“I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”
Kyiv hopes a counteroffensive to reclaim territory will change the dynamics of the war that has raged since Russia invaded its smaller neighbour 15 months ago.
More armored vehicles are expected before the offensive
Zelensky said last month Ukraine needed to wait for more Western armoured vehicles arrived before launching the counteroffensive.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a press conference during a meeting of the European Political Community at Mimi Castle in Bulboaca, Moldova June 1, 2023. (credit: VLADISLAV CULIOMZA / REUTERS)He has been on a diplomatic push to maintain Western support, seeking more military aid and weapons, which is key for Ukraine to succeed in its plans.
Russia holds swaths of Ukrainian territory in the east, south and southeast.
A long spell of dry weather in some parts of Ukraine has driven anticipation that the counteroffensive might be imminent. Over the past several weeks Ukraine has increased it strikes on Russian ammunition depots and logistical routes.
On Saturday Ukraine’s military said in a daily report that Mariinka in the Donetsk region in the east was the focus of fighting. Ukrainian forces repelled all 14 Russian troops’ attacks there, the report said.
Recent Russian attacks aim to stop the counterattack
Ukraine’s plans for a counteroffensive against Russian occupation remain on track, its deputy defense minister told Reuters on Saturday, despite an “unprecedented” wave of missile and drone attacks across the country in recent weeks.
Volodymyr V. Havrylov said that alongside cruise missile strikes, Ukraine had faced repeated volleys of ballistic missiles in May, especially in urban centers including the capital, Kyiv.
“Their primary goal is to stop our counter-offensive and target decision-making centers,” he said on the sidelines of Asia’s top security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Havrylov, who joined defense and military officials from all over the world at the Singapore meeting, said Ukraine expects NATO allies to provide a detailed roadmap to membership at the defense pact’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next month.
“We want to see a clear… set of steps to be taken by both sides,” he said. “Not just an indication that the door is open.”
He added that Ukraine also expected guarantees of security to be provided while the country is in a “transition period” on the way to membership.
He dismissed a proposal by Indonesia’s defense minister at the Singapore meetings to establish a demilitarized zone to halt the fighting in Ukraine, saying: “We are not going to negotiate any deal related to loss of our territory, including Crimea.”
Havrylov called Russia’s heavy use of ballistic missiles in May a “last strategic resort” and noted that his country’s air defense systems had been “more than 90 percent effective” against the attacks.
For Russia “it was a huge surprise to find that the effectiveness of (their ballistic missiles) was almost zero against modern air defense systems, which we received from our partners,” he said.
The United States and Germany provided Ukraine advanced Patriot missile batteries this year. Ukraine had already received advanced shorter-range systems such as NASAMS and IRIS-T from Western partners.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday his country was ready to launch a much-awaited counter-offensive. Havrylov said the missile barrages had not affected the timing.
“Nothing can stop our efforts, our desire, and our confidence that we’ll win this war,” he said. Ukraine will “start the counter-offensive, with the ambition to liberate our territories this year,” he added.
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