Zelensky: Ukraine military needs more time for counteroffensive

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian military needs more time to prepare for an expected counteroffensive to retake territory Russian forces captured. 

Zelensky told the BBC in an interview broadcast Thursday that launching a counteroffensive now would be “unacceptable” because too many lives would be lost. He said the counteroffensive would be successful at this time, but Ukraine would “lose a lot of people.” 

“So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time,” Zelensky said. “In terms of equipment, not everything has arrived yet.” 

Ukraine has been receiving training and advanced weapons from its Western allies in anticipation of the counteroffensive. 

The war between Russia and Ukraine has essentially remained a stalemate for months, with neither side gaining much ground after Ukraine retook thousands of kilometers of captured territory last summer. But Ukraine will look to retake the land Russia annexed in the Donbas region and potentially the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. 

The United Kingdom said Thursday it sent long-range cruise missiles, called Storm Shadow missiles, to Ukraine. The missiles have a range of more than 250 kilometers, or 150 miles, and would allow Ukraine to target areas behind the front lines like Crimea. 

Outlets reported Ukraine pledged to not use the weapons to target locations in Russia. 

The private Wagner military group, which has been helping the Russian military in the fighting, claimed Ukraine’s counteroffensive was “in full swing” after Ukrainian forces advanced 2 kilometers in the eastern city of Bakhmut, which has seen intense fighting for months. 

But a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command East said the advancements were not part of a “grand counteroffensive” but are a “harbinger” of additional attacks to come. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.