Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared his country’s readiness to launch a “counterattack” to retake territories controlled by Russia: “We strongly believe that this counterattack will succeed … I don’t know how long it will take. …to be honest,” Zelenskiy told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published today. It could go completely different. But we are ready to do it.”
Kyiv hopes that the counterattack will change the course of the war with Russia that broke out 15 months ago.
Zelenskiy stressed last month that his country needed more Western weapons and military assistance before launching a counterattack as he made diplomatic efforts to keep Western support.
Russia controls large swaths of Ukrainian territory to the east and south, and prolonged dry weather in parts of Ukraine has raised hopes of an imminent counterattack.
Over the past few weeks, Ukraine has stepped up its strikes against Russian ammunition depots and logistics routes.