Moscow/Kiev (EFE) fuel for the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
“This shows that you can only stop terror and save people with weapons, anti-aircraft batteries and modern aviation (…), artillery and armored vehicles,” Zelensky said in his traditional message to the nation.
Every time a Russian attack causes a tragedy like the one that killed 23 in the Cherkasy region, Zelensky appeals to the consciences of Western leaders arguing that heavy weapons would not only help defeat Russia, but save lives. .
Along these lines, in statements to various Scandinavian media, Zelenski acknowledged that kyiv is preparing the counteroffensive.
“I think it will be a success. We can vacate our territory. The counteroffensive is very important. We need a win. I believe in our soldiers,” he stated.
Without specifying dates – various sources speak of mid-May – he stressed that said counterattack will include the liberation of Crimea, since, he argued, since February 2022 “Russia has been greatly weakened.”
Although he insisted that his success depends directly on Western weapons supplies.
Russia on the defensive
However, the Ukrainian president has denied that said operation is at the expense of the US and other countries agreeing to deliver F-16 fighters to kyiv.
“We will not wait. We will start even earlier (…) Reassure Russia that we still need several months to learn to fly in airplanes. We will not do that. We will start and we will move forward, ”he assured, while admitting that the contest could last“ for years or decades ”.
kyiv and Western intelligence see the latest attacks as proof that Moscow has changed tack.
The targets are now military, not energy infrastructure.
“It is another phase of the contest (…) they are laying lines of defense. It will be difficult for us, ”he stressed, adding that the goal of the Ukrainian Army is“ to take the initiative in this war ”.
And he categorically ruled out negotiations with the Kremlin. “To this day, with that person, the (Russian, Vladimir) President Putin, you cannot talk. For all of us he is a terrorist, ”he stressed.
Drone attack in Crimea
Meanwhile, the annexed Crimea woke up on Saturday attacked by enemy drones, without kyiv having admitted responsibility for the attack.
The authorities of the port of Sevastopol recognized that one of the devices had hit a fuel depot, where up to four tankers burned.
According to Ukrainian Military Intelligence, 10 tankers with almost 40,000 tons of fuel for the Russian Black Sea Fleet were destroyed in the attack.
“It is a punishment from God, in particular for the (23) civilians killed in Uman (Cherkasy), including five children,” Andrii Yusov, his spokesman, told the RBC-Ukraine newspaper.
And he recommended that the Crimeans stay away from the military installations and the infrastructures that supply the aggressor army.
The Crimean leader, Sergei Axiónov, assured that the anti-aircraft defense had shot down two other drones a few hours earlier.
Since the middle of last year, the Russian authorities have denounced numerous Ukrainian attacks against the peninsula, mostly with assault drones, which is why the yellow level of terrorist threat applies in Crimea.
For this reason, both Crimea and the port of Sevastopol have suspended the military parade on May 9, which is celebrated annually on Victory Day over Nazi Germany.