Ukraine is preparing for its counteroffensive and is ready to do so, even in the absence of the necessary F-16 jets from Western allies. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to the media of northern European countries. “It is very important not to completely hand over control of the sky to Russia, so the presence of fighter jets is very important”, explained Zelensky, convinced that the counter-offensive will be successful.
Zelensky then underlined that the Ukrainian counter-offensive also envisages returning Crimea to Kiev’s control. The Ukrainian president “pulled the ears” of those countries that, unlike others, did not “keep their promises” to support Kiev. In a post on his social profiles, Zelensky expressed his dismay at the almost complete destruction of the city of Mariupol. “More than 90% of Mariupol has been destroyed,” he commented under satellite photos of the war-torn Ukrainian city.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive thus seems to gain more and more consistency. So much so that the founder of the mercenary group ‘Wagner’, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is convinced that it can happen “until next May 15”. “The Ukrainian army is ready for a counter-offensive. It was held back by bad weather and maybe some internal issues that it needed to resolve. Maybe on May 9th they will give us a break, but before May 15th there will be 100% counter-offensive “, he said. Prigozhin reiterated that he does not rule out the possibility that the Wagner Group “will soon cease to exist”. Prighozin also added that he had sent an ultimatum to the Russian Defense Ministry, threatening to withdraw if he did not receive ammunition from Moscow. However, this is not the first time that Wagner’s boss has complained about the lack of support from the Russian army and this can only be a provocation.
“Provocative” and “illegal”, according to Moscow, was the action of the Polish police that seized a building in Warsaw that housed the school of the Russian embassy. The dispute over ownership of the building had been going on for several months. For Warsaw, the premises used by the Russian embassy belong to the municipality, and they forced officials to leave the building. The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted quickly, calling the Polish action “brazen” and ensuring an adequate reaction.
Meanwhile, after heavy missile attacks by Russian troops that hit a residential building in Uman in particular and caused 23 deaths, including 6 children, a fuel depot was hit in Sevastopol. The ensuing fire affected an area of over 1000m2. According to the pro-Russian authorities, the attack was perpetrated by Ukrainian drones and deserves “tough response and action”. Olga Kovitidi, a pro-Russian senator from the Crimea region, called for all storage facilities in Odessa to be destroyed to neutralize the city as a Ukrainian military base. Kiev did not respond directly to the allegations but, through the representative of the Ukrainian intelligence service, called the Sevastopol attack “God’s punishment for the civilian victims of Uman”.
While the most recent attacks have targeted civilian infrastructure, according to UK intelligence, Moscow’s troop strategy is changing and is now focusing more on Kiev’s military reserves. Recent attacks on Ukrainian forces in the Kherson region can be seen in this vein. Attacks that intensify and that forced the governor of the region to a new plan to allow the mass evacuation of Ukrainian residents from the region.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
