NSDC Secretary Danilov said that Ukraine's counteroffensive will begin "tomorrow or in a week" The head of the Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to launch a counteroffensive as soon as the command gives such an order, that is, at any time.
At the same time, there is no consensus among Ukrainian officials about the counteroffensive. Earlier, the adviser to the head of the office of the president of the country, Mikhail Podolyak, said that the AFU counteroffensive "has been going on for several days," and the deputy head of the office of Vladimir Zelensky, Igor Zhovkva, stressed that the Ukrainian military cannot yet attack the enemy, since they have few weapons and do not have everything they need. Nevertheless, in Russia they are ready for any onslaught, and in the USA they no longer accept excuses in the form of unsuitable weather conditions.
The armed forces of the country (AFU) are ready to launch a counteroffensive at any moment, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview with the BBC.
"We are always ready. Just as we were ready to defend our country at any moment. It's not a matter of time," he said.
According to him, the Ukrainian military is ready to start as soon as the commanders decide that Kiev "can achieve the best result at this stage of the war."
The NSDC secretary assured that the country's authorities understand that the APU has no right to make a mistake: "The responsibility that our country has imposed on us is very high."
Danilov noted that it is impossible "to miss this historic opportunity to become a truly independent, large European country."
At the same time, the official rejected suggestions that the counteroffensive was already taking place. Thus, he refuted the statement of the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak. On May 25, Podolyak informed that "the counteroffensive has been going on for several days."
"This war is stretched for 1.5 thousand km along the border, but separate operations have already begun," Mikhail Podolyak said.
According to the adviser to the office of Vladimir Zelensky, the expected counteroffensive is not "some 'one event' that will begin at a certain hour of a particular day with a solemn cutting of the red ribbon."
Podolyak said that the counteroffensive is "dozens of different actions" in different directions, which "already took place yesterday, are taking place today and will take place tomorrow." By counteroffensive, he means, among other things, "intensive destruction of the enemy's logistics support."
The active advance of the troops will begin, according to him, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine receive all the necessary weapons from Western allies.
Such a statement was made against the background of the words of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, who on May 23 said that the military had already received the necessary minimum of weapons for a counteroffensive.
"We already have the necessary minimum of weapons. I can only say that [the counteroffensive] will begin in the near future," he said in an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK. Budanov did not give details.
But he, like other Ukrainian officials, reminded Western partners that for the successful continuation of hostilities, Ukraine "needs more weapons." "We need fighters. I hope that the international community is ready to help Ukraine," he added in a conversation with journalists.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in early May repeatedly repeated in the media that the Ukrainian army "needs some more time" - "not too much." According to him, Kiev is "preparing very important stages of a counteroffensive."
Meanwhile, the Russian side is already ready to meet the enemy on the contact line.
"We have everything we need to repel any offensive. Only you have to be crazy to go for such sufficiently powerful fortifications," Acting Governor of the region Yevgeny Balitsky said on May 18.
The Washington Post meanwhile claims that Americans are tired of waiting for a counteroffensive. In particular, it is indicated that the weather, as before, does not interfere - "spring has come to the south of Ukraine, and expectations of a long-awaited counteroffensive have blossomed," so excuses about off-road no longer work.
"A dash to the south through these predominantly agricultural lands may allow Ukraine to interrupt the "land bridge" between mainland Russia and Crimea, cutting off vital logistics lines of the peninsula and deploying Ukrainian troops for further attacks," the article says.
At the same time, Politico previously wrote that the US authorities are preparing for the fact that the conflict in Ukraine will last for many years or even decades.
Anonymous sources told the media that the American authorities would like to freeze the conflict, as happened on the Korean peninsula, where the war has not officially stopped for 70 years, but hostilities have been suspended.
Angelina Milchenko
