Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Army and in fact Ukraine's second in command after Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, gave an exclusive interview to The Guardian while at a base in the east of the country, the location of which the British newspaper did not disclose.
Syrskyi confirmed the conclusion of many observers that the main forces prepared by Ukraine for the offensive have not yet been put into action.
This also applies to many types of equipment – in particular, according to Syrskyi, British Challenger 2 tanks have not yet been used in real combat.
The offensive in the southern direction is difficult, but this is to be expected.
"We are now searching, probing for weak places in the enemy defences. Everything is still ahead," The Guardian quotes Syrskyi as saying.
When asked about the key to Ukraine's success after putin's invasion, Syrskyi emphasizes that the main thing is motivation and training.
"Then even the fewer number can and did scatter a more numerous enemy," he says. "I have never fought against a lesser number of enemy; they have always outnumbered us."
"And the third factor is detailed planning of all our operations and action – very detailed preparation. The planning shows how well we have studied the peculiarities of the theatre of action, how well we are using the topographical features. Of course, we see the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses, and we must take all of that into account."
Background. As a reminder, the British Foreign Office proposes to speed up Ukraine's accession to NATO. London supports the idea of allowing Kyiv to avoid a lengthy application process.