loading…
The intensity increased, Ukraine said the first steps of counter-offensive had begun. Photos/Illustrations
KIEV – Advisor to the president Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak, said that the preemptive operations had begun to pave the way for counter-offensives against the occupying forces Russia .
“It’s a complicated process, it’s not a matter of one day or a certain date or a certain hour,” Podolyak said in an interview with The Guardian.
“This is an ongoing process of deoccupation, and certain processes are already taking place, such as destroying supply lines or blowing up depots behind the lines,” he continued.
“The intensity is increasing, but it will take quite a long time,” he added as reported by the British media, Sunday (28/5/2023).
He predicts that as the counteroffensive gathers momentum, there will be more attacks on Russia by Russian rebel groups, such as the raid in the Belgorod region earlier this week.
The long dry weather has prompted anticipation of a counteroffensive, as has an incursion by a Ukrainian-backed Russian rebel group into Belgorod, likely intended to draw troops and equipment away from the front lines in Ukraine.
Podolyak denied the Russian groups – the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Russian Legion of Freedom – included right-wing extremists in their ranks, acting on Kiev’s orders. He said their contract as part of the Ukrainian foreign legion had expired and therefore they had the status of citizens of the Russian Federation temporarily on Ukrainian territory.
But he said Kiev had not acted to stop the attacks.
“We sympathize deeply with any protest movement that exists in Russia,” he said.
