Ukraine’s counteroffensive move against Russia will succeed: Zelensky

Ukraine’s president said Saturday that he is confident his war-ravaged country’s recently launched counteroffensive move will end in victory over Russia despite an “unprecedented” barrage of missile and drone attacks in recent weeks.

“We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”

The optimism was echoed by Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, who called Russia’s use of ballistic missiles in May “a last strategic resort,” noting that Ukraine’s air defense system had been “more than 90 percent effective against the attacks.”

Volodymyr Havrylov said that in addition to cruise missile strikes, Ukraine had faced continuous ballistic missile attacks in May, especially in urban centers including the capital, Kyiv.

“Their primary goal is to stop our counter-offensive and target decision-making centers,” said Havrylov, who was attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international security conference, in Singapore Saturday.

Zelensky is hopeful that a counteroffensive to reclaim territory will change the dynamics of the war that has raged since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Last month, Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed to wait for more Western armored vehicles to arrive before launching the counteroffensive and has been on a diplomatic mission to bolster Western support, which he said is key for Ukraine to succeed in its plans.

Russia holds parcels of Ukrainian territory in the east, south and southeast of the country.

On Saturday, Ukraine’s military said in a daily briefing that Mariinka in the Donetsk region in the east was the focus of the fighting. Ukrainian forces repelled all 14 Russian troops’ attacks there, the report said.