Zelensky says counteroffensive yet to start despite Kyiv's gains at frontline

The chief of Russia's Wagner private army declared on Thursday that Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive had already begun and made advances on the outskirts of Bakhmut, while Kyiv insisted its major push was yet to begin.

Ukrainian actions were "unfortunately, partially successful," Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of Russia's primary military campaign in Bakhmut, stated on social media, as reported by Reuters.

Kyiv claims to have forced Russian soldiers back in small-scale local attacks over the last two days near Bakhmut, but a counteroffensive involving tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of extra Western tanks is yet to start.

“We still need a bit more time,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with European broadcasters released earlier on Thursday.

Ukrainian forces had previously received adequate equipment from Western partners for their combat, but they were waiting for the full complement to come to minimise losses, according to Zelensky.

“With [what we have] we can go forward and be successful.But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable,” he said.

Prigozhin, a once-secretive figure who has since issued daily remarks criticising the Russian leadership for failing to sufficiently supply his forces, said Zelensky was "deceptive" and that the Ukrainian offensive had already begun.

While Prigozhin's troops have been battling in the city's centre, he has stated that Ukraine is gaining ground on its flanks in places guarded by regular Russian troops, some of whom have left.

Ukraine's conflict has reached a tipping point, with Kyiv preparing to launch a major counter-offensive after six months of putting its forces on the defensive, while Russia launched an enormous winter offensive but failed to seize substantial territory.

Russia has resumed air assaults on Ukraine after a nearly two-month hiatus in preparation for the Ukrainian counteroffensive. According to Moscow, Ukraine utilised drones to attack seized territories and Russian territory along the border.

According to the most recent report, a drone struck a petroleum storage tank in Russia's Bryansk area, which borders Ukraine. No one was injured. Such incidents are not discussed in Kyiv.

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Russia isdeterminedto safeguard the sixth of Ukraine's territory that it claims to have annexed in perpetuity. It has built extensive defences along the front in the six months since the last big Ukrainian advance. An armoured attack would be significantly more difficult than anything Ukraine's military has attempted thus far.

NATO's senior military official said in Brussels that the fight would increasingly be fought between large numbers of poorly trained Russian forces using outdated equipment and a smaller Ukrainian force equipped with better Western weaponry and training.

(With inputs from agencies)

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