Zelensky’s office: Ukraine’s counteroffensive has not yet begun

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the president of Ukraine, has said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has not yet begun and that Ukrainian troops’ offensive operations are currently aimed at identifying weaknesses in the Russian army. Russian president Vladimir Putin said on June 9 that the counteroffensive had started.

“We have not yet started the counteroffensive as such, though Russia is saying ‘We’ve already won, we’ve already repelled the counteroffensive,’” Podolyak said.

He also elaborated on the current goals of Ukraine’s offensive operations.

“The first goal is to destroy as many draftees as possible, to put it bluntly, to increase psychological pressure on the Russian army. The second is to destroy as much Russian equipment as possible, and to destroy it fully so that it’s unusable. That is exactly what our troops were doing today: destroying, destroying, and destroying again. At the same time, they’re testing to see which areas are the weakest,” said Podolyak.

He added that another goal is for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to advance in several directions at once.

“Today, we’re demonstrating that a smaller power can move in multiple directions. This is a unique story. So testing [Russian weaknesses] also lets you advance and create a mood of panic [among the enemy],” he said.

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on Podolyak’s remarks, saying that Podolyak may not entirely know whether Ukraine’s counteroffensive has begun, since he’s not the defense minister.

On Podolyak’s remark that Ukraine was trying to “destroy” as many draftees as possible, Peskov said, “Their own? He’s probably talking about their own.”