Ukraine stated it wanted extra time earlier than a extremely anticipated counter-offensive towards Russian forces, in line with an interview printed by the BBC Thursday, because the UK pledged to ship Storm Shadow missiles to assist Kyiv.
Britain’s choice will make it the primary nation to offer longer-range missiles to Kyiv, which has been coaching a brand new contingent of forces and stockpiling Western-supplied munitions and {hardware}.
Analysts say these steps shall be key to reclaiming territory captured by Russia, though the timing of the counteroffensive stays a query.
“Mentally we’re prepared…,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the BBC. “In terms of equipment, not everything has arrived yet.
“With (what we have) we can go forward and be successful. But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time,” he was quoted as saying.
The head of Russia’s Wagner personal navy firm Yevgeny Prigozhin in the meantime accused Zelensky of being “dishonest” within the interview.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive “is in full swing”, Prigozhin stated.
Kyiv has spent months getting ready to claw again floor within the japanese Donetsk and Lugansk areas, in addition to the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas within the south.
Separately on Thursday the US envoy to South Africa accused the nation of getting covertly offered arms to Russia, regardless of its professed neutrality within the Ukraine warfare.
Western arms
Ambassador Reuben Brigety stated the US was “assured” weapons and ammunition had been loaded onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base in December.
“The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved, and we would like SA to [start] practising its non-alignment policy,” Brigety was quoted as saying.
The missiles pledged by the UK have been utilized by British and French forces within the Gulf, Iraq and Libya and might be operated in excessive situations.
“The donation of those weapons methods provides Ukraine the very best probability to defend themselves towards Russia’s continued brutality,” Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.
His Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov said late last month that Kyiv’s preparations were “coming to an end” and his forces have been prepared “in a world sense”.
But he also said that Abrams tanks promised by the US would not be able to take part in the offensive because they would not arrive in Ukraine until the end of this year.
Ukraine has however received hundreds of other tanks, aircraft, munitions and other arms from its Western allies.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion, Kyiv has received more than $150 billion in aid, including $65 billion in military assistance.
Ukraine is counting on the success of its planned counter-offensive, as that could determine how much aid the West will be willing to donate in the future.
Counter attacks in Bakhmut
Some voices are calling for peace talks with Russia, but in the BBC interview Zelensky rejected any possibility of land concessions.
“Why should any country of the world give (Russian President Vladimir) Putin its territory?” he stated.
Russia was “relying on” a “frozen conflict”, he warned.
But Western sanctions have been having an impact on Russia’s defence trade, he burdened. “We already see that they’ve lowered shelling per day in some areas.”
A senior Ukrainian military official said earlier this week that Russian forces had dropped back from some areas near Bakhmut after limited counter-attacks by Kyiv’s forces around the eastern city.
Prigozhin, whose forces are on the front line of the battle for Bakhmut, acknowledged that some Ukrainian units were successfully breaking through in some areas.
“The Ukrainian army’s plan is in action… All the units which have been trained, which have received weapons, tanks and everything they need are already fully engaged,” he stated.
Prigozhin is concerned in a long-running dispute with Russian navy chiefs over ammunition provides for his fighters and he has threatened to tug them out of Bakhmut.
Journalists and employees of Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris and the world over held a minute of silence on Thursday to recollect their colleague Arman Soldin who was killed earlier this week in Ukraine.
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
