The counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already begun, said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in an interview with the Italian TV channel TG1, the BBC reports.
According to him, Ukrainian troops have been conducting counteroffensive operations in certain areas of the front, which stretches for 1,500 kilometers, for several days.
He assured that Ukraine is not going to use Western weapons received from its allies to fight in Russia, but will use them to liberate its occupied lands, including Crimea.
"Today, we have long-range Storm Shadow missiles, Leopards, anti-missile systems supplied by France and Italy. F-16 fighters will finally allow us to close the airspace," he said. – "The paradox is that if we had them a year ago, the war would have been over by now.
Background. Ukraine's armed forces have been preparing for a counteroffensive since winter. On May 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv needed some more time, as not all the weapons promised by its partners had arrived in Ukraine yet.
The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevhen Prygozhyn, said earlier that the Ukrainian government was being disingenuous and that the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive was already in full swing.
The day before, intelligence chief Kirill Budanov said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had accumulated enough weapons to launch a counteroffensive. However, significant supplies are needed to continue the operation.