war in Ukraine
President Zelenskyj: Ukrainian counterattacks are underway – Trudeau makes a surprise visit to Kiev
Justin Trudeau (left) and Volodymyr Zelenskyj hug at a press conference in Kiev
© Alexey Furman / Getty Images
President of Ukraine Zelenskyy has confirmed that the Ukrainian army is launching counterattacks on Russian positions. His generals were positive. Selenskyj is now receiving further support from Canada.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed counterattacks by his country’s army along the front. Such attacks were carried out as part of the defense, he said at a press conference in Kiev on Saturday. “At what stage they are, I will not say in detail.” He left open whether this was the beginning of the Ukrainian counter-offensive that had been expected for months. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid an unannounced visit to Kiev.
At the same time, Zelenskyi contradicted Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who declared on Friday that the Ukrainian counter-offensive had begun but had not achieved its goals. He would not believe either Telegram channels or Putin who explained the failure of the offensive, Zelenskyy said. He talks to his generals every day and they are “in a good mood”. “You can tell Putin that.”
The Ukrainian general staff has not yet publicly announced the start of the counteroffensive. The offensive has been expected since March. To carry them out, Kiev received numerous weapon systems from Western allies, including German Leopard tanks. With the major offensive, the Ukrainian leadership wants to reconquer Russian-occupied territories of their own country. Recently there have been reports of heavy fighting in southern Ukraine. Russia invaded the neighboring country on February 24, 2022 and currently occupies around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.
Institute: Attacks by Ukraine on at least four front sectors
According to the US Institute for War Studies (ISW), Ukraine has launched counterattacks on at least four front sectors in the past few days. Accordingly, fighting took place near the city of Bakhmut, near the city of Kreminna, in the south-west of the Donetsk region and in the west of the Zaporizhia region, according to the latest situation report on Friday, citing information from Kiev, Moscow and Russian military bloggers.
There was conflicting information about the course of the battle. Great Britain assumes that Ukraine will make military advances in some areas. While some areas in the east and south have made good progress in operations over the past 48 hours and the first Russian line of defense has been breached, Ukrainians are making slower progress elsewhere. More details were not given. The Russian Air Force was also unusually active over southern Ukraine, it said. In his evening video speech on Friday, Selenskyj spoke of “particularly difficult battles”.
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Observers believe that the first attacks of a counter-offensive are intended to identify weaknesses in Russia’s defenses and expose Moscow’s possible defensive tactics before Kiev deploys much of its Western-trained soldiers and Western-received weapons into combat.
Trudeau on surprise visit to Kyiv
While there was movement at the front in the war, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a prominent supporter of Ukraine, was visiting the capital Kiev. According to media reports, the visit began with a wreath-laying ceremony for the fallen Ukrainians near St. Michael’s Monastery in the center of the capital. Later he also met President Zelenskyy. Ottawa is considered a key supporter of Kiev and has also handed over Leopard-type tanks to Ukraine.