For months, the West has been speculating about when the Ukrainian counter-offensive will start.
And the offensive has begun, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna confirms.
– Some actions that are part of the offensive have already started, she says in Nyhetsmorgon.
Russian attacks on Ukraine have intensified in the past week. During Friday, a deadly Russian attack was directed at a hospital in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. At least one person was killed in the attack and over twenty people were injured, among them two children.
After the attack, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made a new statement during a meeting with China’s special envoy Li Hui, according to information from TT. Lavrov announced that “major obstacles” prevent attempts to start peace talks. These obstacles are partly caused by Ukraine, partly by “Ukraine’s Western mentors”.
And right now in Stockholm, the liberal party group in the European Parliament ALDES congress, where one of the guests is Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna. Today she meets Jenny Strömstedt in Nyhetsmorgon for an exclusive interview. And she is saddened by the events of the past week, which she says demonstrate unparalleled cruelty on the part of the Russian Federation.
– I want to compare the events of the last week with the events we saw at the beginning of the war when we could witness a series of attacks on civilians, whose cruelty surpassed all understanding. We then saw attacks on hospitals and theaters where civilians were hiding. And now, more than a year after the start of the war, we see a massive missile attack on a hospital in the Dnipro region. It shows that nothing has changed in Russian tactics. They have been able to act with impunity and without having to face justice. So that’s the message we have to leave with. Now, from the Ukrainian side, we are preparing a counter-offensive, which would protect the civilian population against similar attacks. But the need to protect our airspace with anti-aircraft defenses still remains. We must be able to ensure that attacks like this cannot happen again.
Confirms information about counteroffensive
For months, the West has been speculating about Ukraine’s major counter-offensive. And despite the fact that the Ukrainian side has reported success in the town of Bachmut, it is unclear whether this should be seen as the start of the much-talked-about campaign. But in a statement in the Italian media a few days ago, President Zelensky’s adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said that the counter-offensive has already begun. And this is now also confirmed by the Deputy Prime Minister.
– When we talk about a counter-offensive, it is important to remember that the word is a term of war, that the offensive does not refer to a single action but is a process consisting of a number of actions. Some of these actions that are part of the counter-offensive have already begun, and the outside world will know what the gains of these actions are when success has been achieved and only then. Exactly what will happen is, of course, classified information.
“The people will persevere”
A year of war – and no peace in sight. According to the UN, upwards of 20,000 civilians have died and been injured as a result of the war in Ukraine. The number of fallen soldiers is significantly higher. But the Ukrainian delegation is holding its head high. And Olha Stefanishyna, like her president, is hopeful about the future of Ukraine and its people.
– It is the Ukrainian spirit that will make the people persevere. It is the right to one’s freedom, sovereignty, to house, family and country, something that is not only written in the constitution but also exists in the spirit of the Ukrainian people. That is what our country is and that is the people we are. And the fight for justice is the goal towards which we strive.
Watch the entire subtitled interview in the player above.