President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with France’s BFM TV on Monday, the 11th of March, that the situation on the frontline of Ukraine’s war with Russia was the best it had been in three months, Moscow’s troops were no longer advancing after taking Avdiivka last month and the strategic position had improved despite a shortage of weapons, but said the situation could change again if weapons were not delivered, reports Reuters.
Zelenskyy acknowledged the challenges faced by Ukrainian forces, including shortages of artillery shells, air blockades, Russian long-range weapons and intense drone attacks. “We have been working very effectively… against Russian aviation. We have recovered from the situation in the east. The advance of Russian troops has been stopped,” said Zelenskyy.
But Russian troops have levelled everything in the months-long bombardment of Avdiivka, Zelenskyy said, adding that
“we can no longer talk about a city because everything in Avdiivka has been destroyed”.
Zelenskyy said that Russian forces had the upper hand in terms of long-range weapons, citing a 20 km advantage over Ukrainian forces. Nevertheless, he said that Ukrainian forces had successfully shot down several Russian aircraft and maintained a solid presence in the Black Sea, attacking Russian military objects.
Zelenskyy also pointed to the extensive fortifications being built by Kyiv’s forces, with three lines of fortifications over an area of more than 1000 km.
Zelenskyy expressed his belief that the Russian missile strike in Odessa during the visit of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was a sign of Putin’s detachment from reality.
Reflecting on the fact that he could be the target, Zelenskyy said that to carry out a missile strike “within a few hundred metres of a European leader, I think you have to be really sick”.
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