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Manila Bulletin devider World devider Ukraine PM says counter-offensive 'will take time'

Ukraine PM says counter-offensive 'will take time'

Published Jun 22, 2023 12:07 pm
LONDON, United Kingdom - Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal on Thursday warned that his country's counter-offensive against invading Russian forces "will take time" but said he was "optimistic" about its success. Early this month, Kyiv's military launched its highly anticipated counter-offensive in an effort to claw back territory lost since Moscow's troops invaded Ukraine in February last year.  "We will do very smart, offensive operations. And because of this, it (the counter-offensive) will take time," Shmygal said on the sidelines of a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London. "But we have the intention to move and go ahead. We are going to go ahead... and I'm absolutely optimistic for the liberation of all our lands occupied by Russians," he added.  He said the counter-offensive "is a number of military operations. Sometimes it's offensive. Sometimes it's defensive". "Unfortunately, during our preparation for this counter-offensive Russians were preparing too, so there are so many minefields, which really makes it slower to move," he said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in a BBC interview on Wednesday admitted that battlefield progress had been "slower than desired". But he said that "some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It's not". Russia said Thursday that Ukrainian forces in eastern and southern Ukraine were temporarily limiting their efforts to reclaim Russian-held territory.

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