The liberation of a group of villages from Russian occupation in recent weeks is “not the main event” in the planned attack from Kiev, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said, quoted by Reuters.
“When it happens, everyone will see it. Everyone will see everything,” he assured the Financial Times in an interview, dismissing media coverage of slow progress against well-fortified Russian positions.
He stressed that Ukraine’s main combat reserves, including most brigades recently trained in the West and equipped with modern NATO tanks and armored vehicles, have not yet been used in the operation.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, still holds territory in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Last week, Ukraine said it had captured eight villages in the two weeks since the counter-offensive began in the occupied south, but Kremlin forces are trying to regain the initiative in the east by stepping up attacks.
Each of the two belligerents claims that the other has suffered heavy losses since the counteroffensive began. Moscow and Kiev themselves rarely comment on their own losses.
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2023-06-28 19:40:00
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