(Dan Tri) – Ukrainian officials said that the country’s military is preparing a plan to counterattack Russia’s military campaign after the winter months when the battlefield was almost frozen.
Ukrainian soldiers (Photo: Getty).
Newsweek on March 10 quoted Mr. Mykhailo Podolyak, senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as saying that the country’s military counterattack campaign will likely begin in about two months.
He added that the Ukrainian army will first focus on trying to keep control of the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk province of the country.
Bakhmut has been the most intense fighting front in Ukraine in the past few months.
`We are not in a hurry, we will reorganize the army in the next two months. We will exhaust the Russian army in Bakhmut and then focus on counterattacking elsewhere,` Mr. Podolyak said.
He added that because the Russian military has sent so many soldiers to Bakhmut, Ukraine can focus on replenishing its forces while still engaging in conflict with Moscow.
`The important thing is, the Russian side has to move in this direction. Therefore, we have two goals: reduce the number of their combat-ready soldiers as much as possible, force them to participate in some battles
He emphasized that the strategy that Ukraine applied in Bakhmut is currently quite effective, surpassing the main tasks previously given.
Not only Mr. Podolyak, other Ukrainian officials have also recently publicly spoken about an anticipated spring counteroffensive.
`A year ago, it was very difficult for us to get important weapons. Now, other civilized countries realize that we are Europe’s shield in the east. So there will be a counterattack
Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, also told Newsweek in an interview in February that a counteroffensive was imminent.
Russia has begun its own offensive and fighting has intensified in some areas of the front line, he said.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has entered its second year and continues to be tense.