Top US diplomat claims Ukraine recaptured 50% of territory from Russia amid reports of huge losses
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed Ukraine has recaptured 50 percent of the territory originally seized by Russia amid widespread reports of the massive losses of troops and equipment suffered by the Western-backed country.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Blinken said Ukraine has already retaken about 50 percent of the territory that Russia seized, stressing that Kiev faced a “very hard fight” to win back more.
He pointed out that this is still a relatively early day of the counteroffensive and it will be challenging.
"These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough," he said, adding, "It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking I think at several months."
Blinken’s remarks came as the West's hopes that Ukraine could quickly clear Moscow's forces from its territory following the counteroffensive are fading.
Kiev's troops struggle to breach heavily entrenched Russian positions in the country's south and east.
Ukraine has recaptured some villages in the south and territory around the ruined city of Bakhmut in the east but has not had a major breakthrough against heavily defended Russian lines.
Ukraine launched the counteroffensive against Russia in June to take back occupied territory after months of preparation and some delay in the timeline. Although the counteroffensive started off strong, its pace has slowed as Ukraine has been going through munitions quickly.
Late last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted as saying that the counteroffensive's progress against Russian forces was "slower than desired."
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Zelensky attributed the delayed start of his country’s counteroffensive against Russia to insufficient munitions and training earlier this year.
Zelensky has repeatedly called on its Western allies to speed up the pace of supplying weapons to his country.
In May, the Ukrainian president pressed allies to send more weapons as his military geared up for the planned counteroffensive. Meanwhile, Russia has warned that the flow of Western arms will only escalate tensions.
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