Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine could now inflict “significant damage” on the Russians, as other Ukrainian officials said a range of Western weapons was changing the battlefield.
In his daily video message on Monday, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces “can cause significant logistical loss to the occupiers.”
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for the Russian military to hold positions on the captured territory,” he said. “Step by step, we move forward, disrupting the occupier’s supply, and identifying and disabling collaborators.”
Valeriy Zaluzhniy, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the “timely arrival” of long-range artillery such as the US HIMARS system is helping to change the battlefield.
“We have stabilized the situation. The situation is complicated, intense but completely under control. An important factor in keeping our defenses and positions strong was the timely arrival of the M142. HIMARS, carry out surgical attacks on enemy checkpoints, ammunition and fuel, Zaluzhniy said.
CNN has identified nearly 20 airstrikes that fall far behind Russia’s front lines, in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions so far this month – some of which caused massive explosions and many explosion.
Zaluzhniy said he thanked General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States, for the help of the United States and its allies “in the struggle for freedom.”
Separately, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, told Ukrainian TV station that “today we really have a completely different situation compared to a month ago. Now, thanks the fact that we get enough weapons from our partners, we’ve established a certain parity in certain positions.”
Mr. Danilov said Ukraine wants more weapons in the future to balance it in its favor “so that we have as much capacity as possible to end this war as soon as possible.”
Speaking about the situation in Donbas, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military agency, said on Monday that “Western weapons work not 100% but 200% because because [Russian] warehouse exploded. Command posts were also blown up. “
“We can clearly understand that the Russians are really scared about the proliferation of those Western weapons,” says Hayday.
