Blinken praises Ukraine’s progress on front, achieved despite challenges
Read NV on Google
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has acknowledged the challenging nature of Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive, but also underscored the remarkable progress made by Ukrainian forces, Voice of America reported on Sept. 28.
Voice of America cited comments Blinken made to the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic Festival.
“The Ukrainians have taken back more than 50 percent of the territory that Russia took from them starting in February of 2022,” Blinken said.
“Now, of course, they’re engaged in this counter-offensive along the south and the east. It’s been tough going, and there’s a good reason for that. The Russians had many, many months to build up defenses. But the Ukrainians are making real progress.”
Blinken also pointed out “the fundamental difference-maker is the fact that Ukrainians are fighting for their own land, their own freedom, their own future. The Russians are not. And I think, at the end of the day, that is what tips the balance.”
The U.S. secretary of state stressed that Ukrainians will determine “exactly where lines wind up being drawn — that’s going to be up to the Ukrainians. They have to make important decisions. And it’s a democracy, and those decisions will be reflected in Ukraine’s democracy. And what the U.S. President has said repeatedly is that these are fundamentally decisions for Ukrainians to make. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine — that remains very much the north star of what we’re doing.”
Blinken stated that everyone, particularly Ukrainians, desires a just and lasting peace that reflects the fundamental principles “at the heart of the UN Charter, like territorial integrity, sovereignty, and defense. (Lasting) in the sense that you want to make sure that if you’re getting to a peace, you’re not also leaving in place conditions that would allow this aggression to happen again a year later, two years later, five years later.“
Ukrainian counter-offensive — The latest
A new phase of Ukraine’s counter-offensive is continuing, with the main thrust in the southeast, where Ukrainian forces were gradually advancing through minefields and under Russian airstrikes, U.S. newspaper the New York Times reported earlier.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, responding earlier to criticism of the “slow pace” of the counter-offensive, told U.S. officials that Ukrainian forces were on the verge of a breakthrough in their southern counter-offensive, U.S. newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 24, citing an unnamed U.S. official.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry confirmed the liberation of the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhya Oblast by the Ukrainian military on Aug. 28. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have since been advancing further towards the Novodanylivka-Verbove area in southern Ukraine.
Now Ukrainian forces are moving further towards Novoprokopivka, Ocheretuvate, and have had success near Verbove.
Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the Tavria operational group in the southern part of the country, confirmed on Sept. 2 that Ukrainian forces had breached the first Russian defense line in Zaporizhzhya Oblast.
Ukrainian forces have also liberated part of the village of Opytne south of the front-line town of Avdiyivka in Donetsk Oblast, now former Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Sept. 11.
The Defense Forces liberated Klishchiyivka near Bakhmut on Sept. 17.
A major breakthrough in the counter-offensive would begin if Ukrainian forces were to liberate Tokmak in Zaporizhzhya Oblast, Tarnavskyi has said.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
