Ukraine’s most senior ground forces commander sent a strong signal Thursday that the country’s armed forces will launch a much-anticipated counteroffensive “very soon” to take back lost territory in eastern Ukraine.
Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the Wagner Group of mercenaries fighting in Donetsk were losing manpowe, equipment and “considerable strength” and that “very soon” his forces would take advantage of the “opportunity” that presented.
The comments come just as Russian forces are seen to be losing momentum in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Separately, the head of the Wagner Group of mercenary forces in Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigoin, denied a Bloomberg report suggesting that he is preparing to reduce Wagner’s involvement in the conflict after a major dispute with Russia’s Ministry of Defense.
Slovakia said today that it had handed over the first installment of four MiG-29 jets it has pledged to Kyiv, but Finland declined to offer its own ageing jets.
The country’s Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď said Thursday that “Slovakia is on the right side, and with this gesture, we as a country have written ourselves in capital letters in modern world history.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited the southern region of Kherson, where he toured local infrastructure and promised to “restore everything” following Russia’s invasion.
The visit, to a region where Ukraine staged a successful counteroffensive against Russian occupying forces late last year, was his second outside Kyiv this week. On Wednesday he visited troops near the eastern frontline city of Bakhmut.
“I spoke with local residents about their current issues and needs,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app under footage of his visit to Kherson region.
“We will restore everything, we will rebuild everything. Just like with every city and village that suffered because of the occupiers.”
The Ukrainian counteroffensive last year pushed Russian troops out of the regional capital Kherson after months of occupation. Workers in the region are now busy restoring power and the water supply.
“We have to ensure full restoration and protection of our energy sector!” Zelenskyy wrote in a separate post showing him inspecting energy infrastructure.
“I am grateful to everyone who works for this and returns the light to our people!”
When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow earlier this week, Ukraine was uncharacteristically tight-lipped about the visit as it waited for its own rumored telephone call with the Chinese leader.
That callv — slated to take place after the talks in Russia — has not materialized yet, however, and on Tuesday Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy said “nothing specific [has been decided]; we don’t yet have a confirmation” that it will take place. China has been looking to position itself as a peace broker between Russia and Ukraine for a while but analysts say it could be a lost cause, with Beijing aligned with Russia on an ideological, economic and military level.