Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had wanted to start the counterattack earlier, noting that he had urged Western allies to supply him with weapons for this.
“I am grateful to the United States as our support leader, but I told them as well as the European leaders that we would like to start our counterattack early, and we need all the weapons and equipment for that,” Zelensky said in an interview with CNN.
He continued, “Why? Simply because if we start later, the attack will proceed at a slower pace.”
On Sunday, Kiev acknowledged that Russian forces had made progress in 4 regions of eastern Ukraine, where fierce battles were taking place “everywhere,” noting that the situation was complex.
At the same time, the Ukrainian forces confirmed that they had “made partial progress” in the framework of the counter-attack they had been launching for weeks.
Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Gana Malyar, wrote on social media: “Fierce battles are taking place everywhere. The situation is complicated.”
It added that the Ukrainian forces are advancing in one area in the east of the country and two areas in the south.
She explained, “The enemy is advancing in the areas of Avdiivka, Marinka and Liman. The enemy is also advancing in the Svatov sector.”
Since the start of the counter-offensive last June, Ukraine has said it has regained control of a group of villages in the southeast.
This comes despite the fact that Russia still controls large areas of land in the east and southeast.
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