Ukraine is ready for a counteroffensive to liberate its territory from the Russian invaders. However, the start dates and details are unknown.
This was stated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"We firmly believe that we will succeed. I don't know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go in different ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready," the president said.
According to the head of state, the Ukrainian army did not receive all the weapons it hoped for, but we cannot wait any longer. Zelenskyi was probably alluding to the fighter jets, as he stressed that Russia still has air superiority.
"The lack of protection against enemy aircraft means that many soldiers will die during a counteroffensive," Zelenskyi said.
It will be recalled that the Ukrainian political and military command has repeatedly stated that the Defense Forces are preparing for a counteroffensive to liberate the territories from the Russian invaders.
Meanwhile, fierce battles are taking place on the front line. Ukrainian troops made territorial gains during limited counterattacks in the west of Donetsk region, June 2.
This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The General Staff of Ukraine reported that Russian troops conducted unsuccessful offensive actions near Novoselivskyi and Kuzemivka. Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty, the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Forces of Ukraine, noted that the occupiers intensified combat operations on the entire Kharkiv-Luhansk front line, in particular in the Kupyansk direction.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Russians conducted unsuccessful offensive actions near Makiyivka, Bilogorivka, and Spirny. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation claimed that units of the Russian Central Group of Forces repelled a Ukrainian counterattack in the Serebryansk Forest area.
Also, the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Serhii Cherevaty, said that the Russian troops, which are replacing the PMC "Wagner" in Bakhmut, do not want to participate in the same grueling battles as the "Wagners".
Britain's Ministry of Defense reported that Russian forces had advanced just 29 km during the entire battle for Bakhmut, representing 48 centimeters of territory for every 60,000 servicemen killed or wounded near Bakhmut since May 2022.
Russian forces did not conduct any confirmed ground attacks in the vicinity of Avdiyivka, preferring the Mariinsky direction. On June 1, the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that on May 30, special forces "Akhmat" arrived in Maryinka and that Russian troops captured 70% of the city. On June 2, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that "Akhmat" was conducting an assault on Maryinka.
A Russian source claimed that Ukrainian troops made territorial gains during limited counterattacks in the west of Donetsk region on June 2. It is about Volodymyrivka.
Russian sources claim that on June 2, Ukraine struck a port in occupied Berdyansk, Zaporizhzhia region, with Storm Shadow missiles.