Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is going “slower than desired” as Ukrainian forces have made little progress and are taking heavy losses.
“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” Zelensky told BBC in an interview published Wednesday. “What’s at stake is people’s lives.”
So far, Ukraine has claimed it captured eight small villages in the southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast and in the eastern Donetsk Oblast since the counteroffensive began earlier this month, minimal gains that have come at a high cost.
Zelensky said his forces were having difficulty because Russia had mined a lot of areas. “Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best,” he said.
Leading up to Ukraine’s counteroffensive, the Discord leaks and media reports revealed that the US did not expect Ukraine to regain significant territory. But the Biden administration pushed for the assault anyway and has rejected the idea of a ceasefire or peace talks.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has acknowledged the difficulties Ukraine is facing. “This is a very difficult fight. It’s a very violent fight, and it will likely take a considerable amount of time and at high cost,” he said last week.
Despite the situation, Zelensky said that “victories on the battlefield are necessary” and vowed that Ukrainian soldiers will continue fighting. “No matter how far we advance in our counteroffensive, we will not agree to a frozen conflict because that is war, that is a prospectless development for Ukraine,” he said.
Pigs will fly.
If they keep trying, they may yet repeat the first day of the Somme.
Translation: We sent a whole bunch of people to their deaths for absolutely nothing.
Zelenskyy is a disgusting warmonger among all the rest.
He’s a puppet.
I don’t like the guy.
But what the ‘f’ is wrong with him wanting to take back the land that Russia stole from his nation?
Next time he should listen to his big brother, living next door then bunch of pasty strangers who are thousands of miles away.
Crimea wasn’t stolen. It seceded through a democratic referendum.
That leaves the Donbas region, which is the most heavily Russian part of Ukraine, demographically, culturally and historically. It requires special consideration, and was in many ways where this conflict began in 2014, when Kiev sent the Neo-Nazi militias to take back areas from separatists.
Autonomy seemed like an option until Russia annexed the region, and perhaps the idea could be revived through peace negotiations. The Kiev gov’t is very anti-Russian; so something will have to be done to protect the interests of the ethnic Russians that were Ukrainians prior to 2014.
“Kiev gov’t is very anti-Russian” – the problem is, Anglo-Saxons are very anti-Russian. They created this anti-Russian Kiev government. Russo-phobia was cultivated in Ukraine (the same as in other post-Soviet republics) through the education, NGO and mass media starting from early nineties. A lot of US budget money were invested in the project. It was quite successful in western Ukrainian regions. In the east and south of Ukraine it didn’t worked so well. So, by the presidential elections 2004, country was already divided in two parts though neo-Nazi ideology wasn’t yet dominating in the western regions as it does now. People are brainwashable, it only takes time. It worked in Germany, it works in Ukraine.
“Russo-phobia was cultivated in Ukraine”
All the way back to Dulles & Wisner & the OPC. Ukraine had it’s version of gladio that waged civil war for years after the Nazi withdrawal.
Yes, in WW II, western Ukrainians were pro-German. It was natural after 20 years of suffering under Polish fascist regime. Communist occupation in 1939 wasn’t much better. So, in 1941, they were happy to collaborate with Germans and share Nazi ideology. By middle fifties they were reconciled with communist regime. Particular when Khrushchev replaced Stalin. From 1960 to 1990 there were no problems at all. At least, no violence. Then US reanimated Nazi ideology and many pro-Nazi migrants and their children, who escaped to US and Canada in 1945 and who all those years were groomed by CIA, returned to Ukraine and got lucrative and important jobs in NGO. The corporate media called it the investment in democratization.
Is that Nuland’s five billion?
They invested much more than that. 5 billions only a part of it.
Ukrainians are remarkably persistent in defending the interests of American oligarchy. The brainwashing is working excellently.
Oh, come on now.
They are trying to take back their OWN COUNTRY – Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.
Are you seriously suggesting that the ONLY reason they are fighting is because America is telling them to?
The ONLY reason they are fighting is because America enabled them. And America made it known that they would only enable them to the point that America wouldn’t get directly involved. In other words, not enough to actually win. So, I’d say it would take a fair amount of brainwashing for the average Ukrainian to want to keep fighting under those circumstances.
Turkiye brokered a truce that had Ukraine not in NATO and Russia withdrawing all their troops. We sent Boris Johnson to tell Zelensky to say no.
Except, as another commenter has pointed out, that Putin had already publicly discarded the draft agreement before Johnson even arrived in Ukraine
They could take back Kherson and Zaporozhie oblasts in April 2022 without fighting. A year ago the negotiated peace treaty was about security guarantees for Russia, Ukraine and Donbass republics. Kherson and Zaporozhie oblasts were reunited with Russia in September 2022 after Kiev regime abandoned the peace negotiation.
We’re moving “slower than desired”. I said the same thing after my truck got stuck on the beach in Galveston. With the tide coming in.
Now this made me laugh.
Maybe you should look at that Chinese peace plan again.
Or the ones from late March and early April of 2022. But I would bet that those would no longer be on the table.
Maybe they would. But we don’t want them to be.
Definitely not. There was a referendum between April 2022 and now. 4 former Ukrainian oblasts are now parts of Russian Federation. No one in Kremlin has right to give them back to Ukraine.
Strange….
Our Donny has told me something entirely different many times
Don’t tell me Don is full of it….lol
Zelensky must be aware by now that he’s soon to meet the same fate that Diem met in Vietnam in 1963. Maybe he’ll be betrayed by his own generals, maybe he’ll be assassinated by the CIA, whatever. In order to stay alive he needs to let China negotiate a ceasefire. They have already offered to make Ukraine a major conduit on the Belt and Road Initiative and foot the bill for Ukraine’s reconstruction as well. Depending on the USA and NATO to do that is a fool’s gambit if there ever was one.
Depending on the USA and NATO to let them do that is a fool’s gambit.
CIA won’t replace him, so long as he doesn’t go “rogue”. His generals are hand picked by Intel so fat chance.
Senile Joe back stage: Wow, there’s a real chance Russia is planning to use nuclear weaopons. Kamala, can you find a few more red lines we can cross in the next week? That’d be swell, thanks dear.
Senile Joe for the national press: Well, I never woulda thunk it a year ago as I was standing here calling for war and escalation in Ukraine, but Putin is really planning on using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Of course, I don’t plan on changing anything to avoid this outcome, but I’m praying every night that I don’t get you all killed and radiated so you die a slow, miserable poisoning or starve to death.
The good news is Kamala and I have bunkers, we’ll be here for those that survive, and plan on deploying all available resources to provide you shelter food and clean water. Yes, it might be glowing, but we got plenty to go around, so you can take comfort knowing I’ll still be here for you as you seek shelter from the fall out.
God bless you all, and god bless Merica!
Blah, blah, blah. Nuclear red lines! The US is tracking Russia’s nuclear weapons and they won’t be able to move any of them without the US/NATO knowing about it. If you want to piss your pants every 15 minutes, go right ahead.
I think brazen ignorance is exactly what will cause a nuclear war.
Putin’s small male unit is the only reason we’re even talking about nuclear war.
Regarless of the reasons, we are too close for comfort with nuclear war. Reasonable men and women need to start reasoning.
Nah. Not gonna happen. Threats are all Putin has left and no one is taking him seriously because he’s a blow-hard.
Well, I’m happy for you that you have it all figured out. I sure hope you are right because Lukashenko sounds like he has some marbles loose.
The smaller the man the bigger his proclamations! Let’s all hope the saber rattlers are removed from office ASAP.
His nuclear missiles are still the same size, maybe a little bigger.
It’s pointless to reason with him. He already agreed with Colbert to share his bunker in case the nukes fly.
Drink!
So what?
So long as NATO backs Ukraine.
Russia CANNOT win.
Their economy is a MESS.
https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/gdp-growth-annual
They are running out of stockpiles of tanks et al.
Whereas NATO economies are decent.
And they can easily out manufacture Russia.
Plus, they have huge stockpiles/reserves of modern tanks/aircraft that could go to Ukraine.
America alone has over 3,600 Abrams tanks in storage. Plus there are another 2,000+ Leopard 2’s in storage.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/uccsrs/american_m1_abrams_tanks_are_in_storage_in_total/
Whereas Russia – at it’s present loss rate – could be out of tanks in a few years.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/02/17/the-russian-army-could-run-out-of-tanks-in-a-few-years-what-happens-then/?sh=2535064f2061
When are you people going to realize?
Russia CANNOT win a war of attrition with NATO.
All Ukraine has to do is make small gains in the offensive…to keep NATO happy. And they are doing that.
Damn. Russia could be out of tanks in a few years? You’re good with that? Did you hear about the loss of human life? So, all Ukraine has to do is provide the bodies and allow the destruction of their country and Russia will be defeated. And at that point we could just clench our assholes and hope they don’t use any nukes. Great plan.
In few years Russia will be out of old tanks and replace them by thousands of modern tanks.
I’m pretty sure all they have left in storage are T-34s. Maybe they can go up against some Shermans in a parade?
Like these?
https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/did-the-worlds-deadliest-tank-just-break-down/
Ah, an eight-year-old story about a single tank; published by a magazine partnered with, e.g., a MIC think tank funded by arms manufacturers and US and allied governments; and sourced to a pro-Western media outlet famous for its hostility to the Russian government.
Is the Rational Thinker slumming as a clown today?
Not really. Why don’t you produce any article that says the Russian “new tanks” are coming.
Their “new tanks” don’t really exist. Is your clown outfit dry-cleaned?
Here you go, youngster, I’ll help you out:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/putin-s-new-t-14-armata-tanks-debut-in-ukraine/ar-AA1ajRjJ
Where are they?
So how do you see this ending?
Putin’s demise. Ukraine in NATO.
“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie…”
With “good guys” and “bad guys”.
Of course any ACTUAL non-sociopathic adult knows that that’s now how the world actually works…
Well, he did get an Oscar for his performance though. So there’s that🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
“Zelensky Says Ukraine’s Counteroffensive ‘Slower Than Desired’”
Over 14,000 Ukrainians Killed in Action KIA so far. The entire front is a meat grinder.