Kyiv’s forces are backed by thousands of troops and Western arms as US official says: ‘This is the big test’
Ukraine launched the main thrust of its counter-offensive on Wednesday with thousands of men and Western armoured vehicles pouring onto the frontlines in Zaporizhzhia.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, on Wednesday night hailed his country’s “very good results” on the front line, and promised to provide details of their successes soon.
An enlarged Ukrainian force, whose ranks are swelled with Western-trained troops, and around 100 Western-supplied armoured vehicles, hopes to advance south to sever a land bridge to Crimea.
The new operation, if successful, could take one to three weeks, Ukrainian officials have told Washington. “This is the big test,” one senior US official said.