STRIKING BACK
President Zelensky vows Ukrainian counterattack coming soon as Russia fumes over massive drone strike on Crimea
PRESIDENT Zelensky has boldly warned Moscow that a counteroffensive is coming just as suspected Ukrainian drones struck deep into annexed Crimea.
"There will be a counteroffensive," a smiling Zelensky said yesterday hours before Kyiv's alleged attack far into enemy territory on a fuel depot that affirmed his message in the form of a fiery inferno.
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At a news conference on Friday, President Zelensky was asked about Ukraine's rumoured counteroffensive: "At this point what can you say?"
His response was simple: "There will be a counteroffensive."
The suspected Ukrainian drone strike that blew up a major fuel depot in the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol in the early hours of this morning suggests a boldening of Kyiv's intention to hit back at Russia.
It left Russia fuming and one war channel threatened: "To exclude such drone arrivals, it is necessary either to move the borders of Ukraine to Poland, or for Ukraine to cease to exist altogether."
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The drone attack perhaps is alleged to be a retaliation to Russia hurling a wave of missiles at Ukrainian cities as people slept on Friday morning in the first large-scale air strikes in two months.
It became the deadliest attack in months, particularly in the city of Uman where a missile hit an apartment building.
The death toll has now rose to 23 people, including four children as rescue workers still attempt to put our the smouldering blaze and clear debris.
Ukraine did not claim the attack on Crimea this morning but defence spokesperson Andriy Yusov described the blast as “God’s punishment” for the tragedy in Uman.
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In a , Zelensky made clear his intentions to strike back at a weakened Russia after 14 months of fighting a gruelling war that summons the images of World War I trench warfare-style combat.
"Russia has become much weaker since then. They have lost a large amount of powerful manpower - professional soldiers, not mobilised men," Zelensky telling Scandinavian media,
He continued: "They are a great power, and they have many different weapons, but psychologically much has changed since that moment. We saw this during the Kherson operation.
"They are afraid, they are afraid of dying. I think their spirit has been broken. They don’t understand how this happened: ‘We reached Kyiv, just two or three more days and it will be over…’ They were psychologically broken."
Zelensky had warned back in March that taking back Russian-annexed Crimea would require heavy losses for Ukraine. However, he sees the outcome differently now.
"The situation is very different from last year's. So it could be different in relation to Crimea," he said.
The Sun Online previously reported on how the Ukrainian counteroffensive might make the ambitious decision to concentrate their efforts on finally retaking Crimea, which has been in Russian hands since 2014.
General Hodges, former commander of the US Army Europe, told The Sun: "The key is winning Crimea - that will be the decisive terrain. Once Crimea is liberated, it’s all over, it changes everything.
"Ukraine knows that it will never be safe without taking back Crimea."
This onslaught he believes will involve hitting Russia's air bases, ambitious attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet and targeting logistics & command centres deep into enemy-held territory in Crimea.
Today's attack on Sevastopol's fuel depot may signal the beginnings of such a plan unfolding.
The war itself is coming to a crucial point after Russia failed in any attempted winter offensive as its forces were held up in the bloody battle for Bakhmut.
And yet Ukraine is still waiting on vital Western weapons and war machinery, including tanks and armoured vehicles, to become fully operational and ready for combat.
However, even without securing F-16 fighter jets, Zelensky stated today that the counteroffensive would go ahead.
""It would help a lot... But we understand that we will not delay this, and we will start even before we have F-16 or anything else.
"Reassuring Russia that we still have a few months before starting training on jets, and only then we will begin… No, it won't be like this. We will begin...and move forward," he said.
Away the frontline, a new wave of thousands of Ukrainian troops determined to protect their homeland have been busy training overseas with Western weapons.
Ukrainian 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."
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Although he did not allude to when it might happen, he said: "we are to a high percentage ready" and that the newly delivered Western weapons would give the country the "iron fist" to beat Russia.
As Kyiv warns preparations for the counteroffensive are almost complete, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg confirmed almost all of the promised combat vehicles had been delivered to Ukraine.
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