Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published on Saturday that his country was ready to launch a long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-controlled territories.
“We strongly believe we will succeed,” Zelensky told the Wall Street Journal.
He added, “I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it could go in many very different ways, but we’re going to do it, and we’re ready.”
However, he added in the interview that the counterattack against Moscow could take some time and would come at a “heavy cost”.
Kiev hopes the counterattack will change the course of the war that broke out 15 months ago.
Ukrainian soldiers in Donetsk
Zelensky said last month that his country needed to wait for more Western armored vehicles to arrive before launching a counterattack. And he made diplomatic efforts to maintain Western support, and asked for more military aid and weapons, which is essential to the success of Ukraine in its plans.
Russia controls large swaths of Ukrainian territory in the east, south and southeast.
A prolonged spell of dry weather in some parts of Ukraine raised expectations that a counter-attack might be imminent. Over the past few weeks, Ukraine has stepped up its strikes on Russian ammunition depots and logistical supply routes.
Today, Saturday, the Ukrainian army said in a daily report that the fighting is concentrated in Marinka, in the Donetsk region, in the east. The report added that the Ukrainian forces repelled all 14 attacks by the Russian forces there.
