Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov: Ukraine will launch counteroffensive in April or May
The Ukrainian General Staff is planning to launch a counteroffensive this spring, said Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov to the Estonian broadcasting network ERR.
Reznikov made this statement when replying to questions about the German delivery of 18 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which took place earlier this week.
When asked how soon the tanks would appear on the frontline, Reznikov said it would happen during the springtime counteroffensive. The General Staff, he explained, would determine the exact timing when this would be most advantageous.
Offering some additional details, the minister said that the counteroffensive envisioned by the General Staff should take place along several key directions. Its exact timing is partly subject to weather, since Ukrainian spring is typically very muddy. This makes the terrain only passable on caterpillars. As for the Leopards, he said, “I think we’re going to see them in April–May.”
Reznikov expressed confidence in the “positive changes” Ukraine is preparing to show the world in 2023: “I’m certain,” he said, “that we’ll continue liberating the occupied territories, as we did before in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Kherson.”
