Ukrainian counter-offensive might not start until fall, says MP Kostenko

Kostenko said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was telling the truth when he said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were ready to launch their counter-offensive.

"If the president and supreme commander-in-chief says that we are ready, I don't think he would deceive anyone and tell a lie," Kostenko said.

“(But) I think that readiness for some active actions and the very beginning of active actions are different things.”

The MP said one might be ready to strike, but at the same time understand that there will

be enough force and means to strike only if "everything aligns on the opposing side."

"That's why I think they are waiting," he suggested.

“They used to cite the weather as a hindrance but now the weather has improved. If Ukraine still has not launched an active counteroffensive despite that, it means they are waiting for other factors to fall into place.”

Kostenko also said that Ukraine has not received all the equipment promised by its military partners, and that the equipment Ukraine now has will need replacement when damaged.

"Now everyone is probably waiting for the right time to start," the MP concluded.

“Because everyone expected it to happen in May. If it has not started, then there are some reasons for that.”

He suggested that Ukraine's counteroffensive could take place in the fall and noted that "no one can say when it will start."

Natalia Humeniuk, head of the joint press center of the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, said on June 5 on Ukrainian national television that the Russian invasion forces were morally exhausted by the long wait for the Ukrainian army's counter-offensive, and that they were visibly nervous.

In an interview with U.S. newspaper the Wall Street Journal published on June 3, President Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was ready to launch its counter-offensive.