Ukraine’s months-long vowed counter-offensive to retake territory lost to Russia since February last year has begun.
●Russia “attacking on five fronts, including Donetsk메이저놀이터“… Ukraine dismisses “fake news”
“Ukrainian forces have launched a large-scale offensive on five fronts in the southern Donetsk region,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram at about 1:30 a.m. Moscow time, Reuters reported.
“Our forces killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armored personnel carriers at five positions along the front line in the Donetsk region of southern Ukraine,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on May 5, releasing a video showing several Ukrainian armored vehicles exploding after being hit, adding that “Ukraine’s counterattack failed.”
Ukrainian military officials dismissed as “fake news” Russian claims that they launched a counterattack and were defeated. “We have no such information, and we do not comment on any kind of fake,” a Ukrainian military spokesman said when asked about the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement earlier in the day, Reuters reported. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov also wrote on Twitter that “words are very unnecessary and can only cause harm,” quoting lyrics from singer Depeche Mode’s song “Injoy the Silence. The daily report from Ukraine’s General Staff said only that “there were 29 battles and clashes in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.” The day before, Ukrainian military authorities had urged their citizens to remain silent about operational information, saying that public speculation about a counter-offensive would benefit the enemy.
“Heavy fighting is taking place near Velika Novosilka in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine at dawn today,” wrote Semyon Pegov, a popular Russian military blogger who witnessed the fighting. Other Russian military bloggers also reported heavy fighting near Bakhmut, nearby Soledar, and Buledar in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) interview on March 3 that he “believes we will succeed in a major counteroffensive,” but warned that “it will take time and could cost us dearly.”
Dependent on Western support… no F16s, ground equipment.
Before the invasion, Ukraine sent drones into mainland Russia, including the Belgorod region bordering the Russian capital, Moscow, to carry out sabotage against ammunition depots, oil refineries, and other supply lines. Chechen Autonomous Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov offered a large-scale deployment of troops to Belgorod in a telegram the same day, CNN reported. The success or failure of the counteroffensive is likely to have a significant impact on Western support for Ukraine going forward. However, the counter-offensive will be carried out with ground equipment only, without Western-supplied F16 fighter jets, Ukrainian Defense Minister Lesnikov explained.