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As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits European capitals seeking to collect military equipment for a long-awaited counteroffensive, he’s offering assurances the fight will stay within his country’s borders.
“We don’t attack Russian territory, we liberate our own legitimate territory,” Zelenskyy said Sunday at a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
A recent Washington Post report, based on leaked U.S. intelligence, indicated Zelenskyy wanted to capture Russian cities near the countries’ border to use as leverage in peace negotiations. Westerns allies have been wary of the war spilling into Russia and triggering a dangerous escalation of the conflict.
Zelenskyy, who stopped by Rome Saturday and met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris later Sunday, said his military is focused on regaining the internationally recognized Ukrainian land Russia has tried to claim as its own. The Kremlin illegally annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces in the fall, and it has occupied Crimea since 2014.
“We have neither the time nor the strength (to attack Russia),” Zelenskyy said, according to an official interpreter. “And we also don’t have weapons to spare with which we could do this.”
The Ukrainian president’s whirlwind tour aims to elicit pledges for more armaments, including fighter jets, along with funds to rebuild what’s been destroyed in more than 14 months since the Russian invasion.
His first visit to Berlin since the war began came a day after the German government announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine worth more than $3 billion, including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.
Zelenskyy thanked Scholz, saying Germany’s contributions “are saving Ukrainian lives and bringing us closer to victory,’’ and said Ukrainian soldiers preparing for the counteroffensive are “almost ready for success.’’
Developments:
∙ More than 30 people were wounded during a “massive” overnight Russian attack using exploding drones, the Ukrainian military reported, saying 18 of the 23 drones were shot down, but their debris and the five that got through damaged 50 buildings.
∙ Five civilians were killed in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region when an unexploded Russian shell blew up, according to Zelenskyy’s chief aide, Andriy Yermak.
Poorly trained soldiers, older equipment limiting Russia
Russia is trying to make up in quantity of troops what it lacks in quality, which is limiting its capability, the British Defense Ministry said in its latest war assessment.
The combined Russian forces in Ukraine probably total 200,000, the same number that began the invasion in February 2022, and they’re still organized in about 70 combat regiments and brigades, the ministry said. But at the time those troops were professional soldiers using relatively modern equipment.
“Now the force is mostly poorly trained mobilized reservists and increasingly reliant on antiquated equipment, with many of its units severely under-strength. It routinely only conducts very simple, infantry-based operations,” the ministry said.
The White House estimated in early May that Russia has sustained about 100,000 casualties − including 20,000 fatalities − since December alone.
“Critically, it is unlikely that (the combined group of Russia’s forces) has been able to generate a large, capable, mobile reserve to respond to emerging operational challenges,” the ministry said.
Prigozhin hints Russia down four of its own aircraft
The head of the Wagner mercenary army, who has been feuding with the Russian Ministry of Defense for months, is now suggesting Russian forces may have downed four of their own aircraft. Yevgeny Prigozhin did not claim to have inside information but speculated based on where the aircraft fell.
Russian officials have not commented on reports in Russian conventional and social media that two fighter planes and two military helicopters crashed Saturday in the Bryansk province, which borders northern Ukraine. The incidents raised questions about Russia’s ability to protect its territory from Ukrainian attacks.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat denied his country was involved, at first saying on Ukrainian television that Russia may have been at fault − calling it “a black day for (Russian) aviation” − but later saying he was trying to joke.
Prigozhin pointed the finger at Russia, noting all the aircraft fell within 25 miles of each other.
“Go on the Internet and see what kind of air defense weapon could be in the center of this circle, and then build your own versions,” Prigozhin said on Telegram.
Russia says two of its commanders were killed in fight for Bakhmut
In a rare announcement at a daily briefing, the Russian military acknowledged Sunday that two of its commanders were killed during fighting in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Commander Vyacheslav Makarov of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade and Deputy Commander Yevgeny Brovko from another unit were killed trying to fend off Ukrainian attacks.
The ministry also said its forces repelled all Ukrainian attacks from the north and south of the city in the previous 24 hours. The Ukrainian military, however, reported making progress and capturing more than 10 Russian positions in Bakhmut’s suburbs. The invading forces and Prigozhin’s fighters control about 90% of the city, but Ukraine is holding forth in part of the west and making a push for more.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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