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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

Ukraine says it's wrapping up preparations for counteroffensive

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov attends Ukraine Defense Contact group meeting at Ramstein U.S. Air Base, Germany, April 21, 2023. REUTERS/Heiko Becker/File Photo

Ukraine is wrapping up preparations for a counteroffensive against Russian forces and is largely ready for it to go ahead, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Friday.

"As soon as there is God's will, the weather and a decision by commanders, we will do it," he told an online news briefing.

He gave no date for when the counteroffensive would start but said: "Globally speaking, we are to a high percentage ready."

FILE PHOTO-A satellite image shows Novofedorivka with annotated trenching operations, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, April 11, 2023. Capella Space/Handout via REUTERS

Kyiv hopes its planned counteroffensive will change the dynamics of the war that has raged since Russia invaded Ukraine 14 months ago.

Russia holds swathes of Ukrainian territory in the east, south and southeast. Ukraine's military said in its latest daily report on the war that Bakhmut, a small city in the east, remained the focus of fighting.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this week that Kyiv's foreign allies and partners had delivered almost all their promised combat vehicles to Ukraine.

FILE PHOTO-A satellite image shows fortifications in Nyzhni Sirohozy, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 14, 2023. Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS

Reznikov said Ukraine had received a lot of modern equipment, including arms that would serve as an "iron fist", and that training on some Western equipment was continuing.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops have been training in the West to use different military assets on the battlefield in a combined way.

A satellite image shows Berdiansk Airport, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Ukraine, February 4, 2023. Capella Space/Handout via REUTERS

(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

A satellite image shows Rybalche, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Ukraine, May 29, 2022. Capella Space/Handout via REUTERS
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