2023-06-12 19:22:00
Zelensky gives the clearest signal that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 10. (Photo: STR/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his clearest indication to date that the long-awaited Ukrainian offensive to liberate territory still held by Russian occupying forces is underway, stating that “in Ukraine there are ongoing relevant defensive counteroffensive actions”.
In a speech in Kyiv on Saturday, the Ukrainian leader was asked to respond to comments by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who said on Friday: “It can be stated with absolute certainty that the offensive [ucraniana] it has started.” The Russian leader added that he had not had any success.
Zelensky dismissed Putin’s hints that the Ukrainian armed forces were struggling and tried to apply some psychological pressure of his own.
“It is interesting that Putin talked about our counteroffensive. It is important that Russia feels [la contraofensiva]that he feels that he does not have much time left,” he said.
On the battlefield, the Russian Defense Ministry reported further Ukrainian offensive operations along the front line south and east of Zaporizhia.
The Defense Ministry update, posted on its Telegram channel, said troops from the Vostok brigade immediately southeast of the frontline town of Orikhiv had repelled two attempted advances by Ukrainian tank units, one near the village of Novopokrovka.
In addition, he said that two Ukrainian armored columns had been repulsed near Novodanilovka and Mala Tamkachka. In the same area, Russian military bloggers said that Russian troops in positions near the road south of Orikhiv to Tokmak were still reporting extremely heavy Ukrainian artillery fire.
Further east of the front line, southwest of Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had made three more attempts to advance, which it said had been defeated.
CNN cannot verify the Russian Defense Ministry’s claims, and the picture is no clearer from the Ukrainian side. The Kyiv authorities have disclosed little information since they intensified their activities along the Zaporizhia-Donetsk front about six days ago.
Zelensky, in his comments this Saturday at a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to the counter-offensive activities, said: “I will not give details about the phase in which it is.”
After spending most of the winter engaged in fighting around Bakhmut, as well as training her soldiers and waiting for the arrival of Western military aid – such as tanks and longer-range strike weapons such as Storm Shadow missiles – in recent weeks Ukraine has clearly intensified its military activities.
These have included what are known as shaping operations—strikes against targets far behind the front lines, such as fuel depots and soldier barracks—and, more recently, probing operations, in which an army conducts conduct what are sometimes called force reconnaissance operations, designed to check enemy weaknesses and combat readiness.
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