According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, preparations for a much-anticipated counteroffensive in the early spring have been delayed due to a lack of sufficient munition.
In a Sunday interview with CNN, Zelensky stated that the delay had given Russia time to bolster its defenses.
“We did intend to launch it in the spring. But we didn’t because—honestly—we lacked the necessary munitions and armaments and brigades, and—what’s worse—the training missions were conducted outside of Ukraine, the general said.
The counteroffensive’s later start gave Russia time to mine all of Ukraine’s lands and construct numerous lines of defense, the Ukrainian president continued. Of course, they had more time than they required.”
Zelensky continued that our counteroffensive operations were slower because Russian forces “had a lot of mines in our fields.”.
We wished to keep our personnel and people. And we didn’t want our servicemen losing equipment for that reason,” he said.
Nearly a week ago, Russia labeled Ukraine’s counteroffensive against its forces as “unsuccessful.” Now, something else has happened.”
Last month, a counteroffensive by Ukraine was launched to retake Russian-held territory. Kyiv acknowledged that its forces are not advancing as quickly against Russian forces as it would like.
Earlier this month, Zelensky urged the United States and other allies to give Kyiv long-range weapons and artillery, claiming that the slow delivery of weapons promised by the West was delaying the counteroffensive.
Zelensky has urged the West’s allies on numerous occasions to speed up the pace of arming his nation. When his military was getting ready for the anticipated counteroffensive in May, the Ukrainian president urged allies to send more weapons.
Zelensky had repeatedly pressed the US and other allies for F-16 fighter jets, but the promise didn’t materialize for days. At the end of the year, those jets are scheduled to land in Ukraine.
The end of February 2022 saw the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. Western nations, led by the United States, have been flooding Ukraine with high-tech weapons worth tens of billions of dollars ever since the conflict broke out.
The flow of Western arms, according to repeated Russian warnings, will only make tensions worse.
