Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted this Saturday (September 2) the latest progress in his army’s counteroffensive to liberate areas controlled by Russian forces in the east and south of the country.
Progress was also reported by the military authorities, who coordinated their efforts on the fronts.
“The Ukrainian armed forces are advancing. Despite everything and no matter what anyone may say, we are moving forward, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move,” Zelenskyy wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
Ukrainian leaders had criticized Western experts who reported slow progress in the counteroffensive and without the expected success on the front. Zelenski himself even complained about his critics. In June, he said the fight against Russia’s extensive defense systems was not a “Hollywood movie” and stressed that lives were at risk.
The counteroffensive launched in June aims to completely liberate the Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions partially occupied by Russian troops. Kiev is also seeking to recapture the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Military leaders highlight gains
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov emphasized that the Ukrainian armed forces are now able to use their own weapons to attack targets on Russian territory at a distance of 1,500 kilometers.
He confirmed that Ukraine had already been developing its missile and drone program since 2020 and that the weapons used in attacks on Russian soil were Ukrainianmade. However, Danilov emphasized that all targets hit were military facilities.
Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, who is coordinating the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south of the country, said his troops had broken through the first line of Russian defenses near Zaporizhia after weeks of efforts to clear landmines. They hope to make quick progress as they move into the second line of defense.
In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, Tarnavskiy estimated that Russia spent 60% of its time and resources on building the first line of defense and only 20% on the second and third lines of defense, as Moscow did not expect advances from Ukrainians.
Russia is in danger of splitting its forces
The British Ministry of Defense, which has been monitoring the conflict in Ukraine since its beginnings, believes that Russia’s counteroffensive in southern Ukraine risks splitting its forces while continuing its attacks in the east.
Russia is continuing its offensive on Kupisasnk in the east of the country and wants to force the Ukrainians to divide their military units between the east and the south. However, the strategy could turn against the Russians themselves.
“Given that Russia has made only modest progress since the start of the counteroffensive near Kupiansk, they are most likely trying to gain an advantage through their maneuvers in the region,” the British ministry intelligence report said.
However, this could force Russia to split its troops to prevent further Ukrainian advances in Orikhiv, in the south of the country, weakening its defense capability on both fronts. Ukrainian forces advanced to the first of the main defense lines in this region, despite efforts by Russian troops to stop them.
The British Ministry of Defense has been publishing daily intelligence reports on the conflict in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion of the country.
rc (DPA, DW)
Pictures of the war in Ukraine win the 2023 Pulitzer Prize
The award recognizes the AP news agency’s photojournalistic work in reporting on the conflict. DW has selected some of the awardwinning images.
general.image.copyright_prefix Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/picture Alliance
Attacks in residential areas
Natali Sevriukova next to her house, destroyed in an attack on the Ukrainian capital Kiev on February 25, 2022, right at the start of the war started by Russia.
general.image.copyright_prefix Emilio Morenatti/AP/picture Alliance
Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to escape across the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kiev on March 5, 2022.
general.image.copyright_prefix Emilio Morenatti/AP/dpa/picture Alliance
A woman walks among destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha on the outskirts of Kiev on April 3, 2022.
general.image.copyright_prefix Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo/Image Alliance
Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, cries in front of the coffin of her son Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers in Bucha. The picture was taken during the funeral at the Mykulychi cemetery on the outskirts of Kyiv on April 16, 2022.
general.image.copyright_prefix Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo/Image Alliance
Scenes that went around the world
Ukrainian rescuers and police evacuate injured pregnant woman Iryna Kalinina, 32, from a maternity hospital destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Mariupol, March 9, 2022.
general.image.copyright_prefix Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/dpa/picture Alliance
On March 11, 2022, an explosion erupts in a residential building in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, which was fired upon by a Russian army tank.
general.image.copyright_prefix Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/dpa/picture Alliance
Anastasia Ohrimenko, 26, is comforted by relatives and friends as she cries near the coffin containing the body of her husband Yuri Styglyuk during his funeral in Bucha, August 31, 2022. He was a Ukrainian soldier and died in battle in Maryinka, Donetsk region.
general.image.copyright_prefix Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo/Picture Alliance
People lie on the floor of a hospital during shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol, March 4, 2022.
general.image.copyright_prefix Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo/Picture Alliance
Destruction everywhere
A man looks at buildings destroyed in Russian attacks on Borodyanka on the outskirts of Kiev, June 4, 2022.
general.image.copyright_prefix Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo/Picture Alliance
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