Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday night that the current offensive against Russian troops is “difficult” but “advancing.”
“The fight is hard, but we are making progress,” Volodymyr Zelensky declared in his daily Internet address, hailing the return of the Ukrainian flag to villages in the “newly liberated territories.”
The Ukrainian government said, however, that Ukraine has already recaptured seven villages from Russian forces in the south and east of the country since the weekend, as part of the counter-offensive in three sectors of the front line.
“Seven villages have been liberated,” Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said on the Telegram social network today, referring to several places taken in the Zaporizhia region.
According to the Deputy Defense Minister, the villages of Lobkovo, Levadne and Novodarivka, near Zaporizhia, as well as the village of Storozheve, in the south of the Donetsk region, were recaptured.
In the daily speech on the Internet, Zelensky also clarified that “the fight is difficult, but we are advancing, which is very important.”
As for the casualties caused to the enemy, he asserted: “They are exactly at the level we need.”
Zelensky also said that “the weather is not favourable, the rain is making our task difficult, but the strength of our soldiers is paying off,” and also hailed the return of the Ukrainian flag to the “recently liberated territories.”
This afternoon, the Ukrainian army reported that it had also made progress in the Bakhmut region.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported that “Ukrainian troops advanced 250-700 meters in the direction of Bakhmout.”
Moscow, for its part, claimed to have repelled Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk region near Velyka Novosilka and the town of Levadne near Zaporijja.
These statements, whether from Moscow or kyiv, have not been confirmed by independent entities.
According to military analysts, Ukraine “has not yet launched the bulk of its forces in its major counteroffensive” and, in their view, “is still testing the front line with targeted strikes to determine its weak points.”
Meanwhile, in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, estimating that it will last “several weeks, if not months.”
“The Ukrainian counteroffensive started several days ago,” Macron said, warning that it “will last several weeks, if not months.”
In addition, Macron assured that he “hopes” that this counteroffensive will be “as successful as possible, so that we can then start a negotiation phase under the right conditions.”
In Washington, for his part, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, said he hoped that the success of the offensive would force Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate.
“A counteroffensive that just happened could do two things: it would strengthen the position (of Ukraine) at the negotiating table and could have the effect of finally leading Putin to negotiate or end this war, which he has been going through,” the outgoing person responsible for diplomacy two USA.
Source: TSF
