LAST UPDATE | 3 Jun 2023

UKRAINE IS READY to launch a long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia but fears large casualties due to Moscow’s superior air power, President Volodydmyr Zelenskyy has said.

Ukraine has said it is preparing for a major offensive against Moscow’s occupation forces for months, but Zelenskyy has repeatedly warned that Kyiv needs more time and weapons.

“A large number of soldiers will die” if Kyiv is not given the weapons to counter Russian air power, Zelenskyy said.

While Kyiv was “ready” for the offensive and believes it will succeed, the Ukrainian leader said it would be “dangerous” to launch without more Western help to counter Russian air attacks.

He spoke as the capital was this week hit by a series of aerial assaults, including a rare daytime one.

A crater from a Russian missile in Kyiv Alamy Alamy

“Everyone knows perfectly well that any counteroffensive without air superiority is very dangerous,” Zelenskyy said.

“Imagine the feeling of a soldier who knows that he doesn’t have a roof and he doesn’t understand why neighbouring countries have one.”

He said there was only one weapon – the US-made Patriot air defence system – that could protect Ukrainian skies, asking for more to be delivered to Kyiv.

“The reality is 50 Patriots will, for the most part, prevent people from dying.”

He said his enemy Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the invasion of Ukraine in February last year, “should be afraid of the strength of the world.”

He called him a “cornered animal, he is afraid to lose his life”.

Residents of Kharkiv receive free meals from volunteers against the backdrop of a destroyed apartment block Alamy Alamy

Zelenskyy also expressed frustration at Western leaders ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius next month, as pressure has grown to grant Ukraine a roadmap for joining the alliance.

“If we are not acknowledged and given a signal in Vilnius, I believe there is no point for Ukraine to be at this summit,” he said.

He acknowledged that Kyiv understood it was not possible to join NATO during the Russian invasion.

The US newspaper also showed footage of Zelenskyy in a white gown visiting a wounded soldier in hospital who had lost both hands.

Two killed by Ukrainian shelling

Ukrainian shelling killed two people today in Russia’s Belgorod, a border region that has been hit by repeated attacks this week, the local governor said.

Belgorod border villages have been hit by unprecedented shelling, and the latest deaths bring the overall toll to seven this week.

“Since this morning, the district of Shebekino has been under shelling of the Ukrainian armed forces,” said Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

He said an “elderly woman” was killed in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka and another woman died from her wounds in the village of Bezlyudovka.

Two other people were wounded in the shelling.

The Shebekino area has been the hardest hit by the shelling, and residents from the area have been pouring in to displacement centres in the regional capital of Belgorod.

The Russian army on Thursday said it had used its air force and artillery to repel an attempt from the Ukrainian army to invade Belgorod.

© AFP 2023