Fear of increased enemy pressure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky judged in an interview with AFP on Friday that the new Russian assault on the Kharkiv region could be the first wave of a broader offensive affecting the East and the North. Russian troops “have launched their operation, it may consist of several waves. And this is their first wave. But the situation is under control after this first wave,” he assures.
“They are 5-10 km maximum from the border, we stopped them (…) I will not say that it is a great (Russian) success, but we must be sober and admit that it is them, not us, who are moving into our territory. This is their advantage,” he notes.
“They are not going to die by the millions to get it”
Russia wants to attack the city of Kharkiv, the country’s second city, only a few dozen kilometers from the front, the president estimated. However, he assured that the battle for the city, if there was one, would be tough for the Russian army. “They want it, they want to attack, but they understand that it is very difficult.” “If they sense weakness in that direction, they will push,” but if Ukrainian troops manage to stop Russian troops, it will give up. “They are not going to die by the millions, in my opinion, to have Kharkiv.”
Moscow had already failed to take it in 2022 and Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he had no intention of attacking it “for the moment”. In the meantime, nearly ten thousand people have been forced to leave their homes in the region. “In total, 9,907 people were evacuated,” declared Governor Oleg Synegoubov, more than a week after the launch of the Russian assault.
The desire to strike Russia at home
It is now a matter of Ukraine and its Western allies showing resilience, President Zelensky insisted in his interview, calling for two Patriot anti-aircraft systems to defend the region’s skies and the Ukrainian soldiers who protect it. . In total, Ukraine has only a quarter of the air defense systems it needs and requires a total of 120 to 130 F16 fighter jets to end Russia’s dominance in the air, the chief said of State.
Zelensky also castigated his allies who forbid him from using Western weapons to strike Russian territory, for fear that this would push the Kremlin into an escalation. “They can hit us from their territory, this is the biggest advantage Russia has, and we cannot do anything to their (weapons) systems located on Russian territory with Western weapons. We have no right to do so,” he denounced.
“We want a just peace”
Regarding talks before the conference on Ukraine scheduled for mid-June in Switzerland, President Zelensky called on the West not only to want to end the war with Russia, but to seek a “just peace” for his country. “We want the war to end with a peace just for us,” he said, “and the West just wants the war to end, as quickly as possible.”
“No one is going to give up (the fight in Ukraine). I am sure that, whatever the difficulties encountered and the breakthroughs achieved, there will still be no global breakthrough,” maintained the head of state.