Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces must go forward in their counteroffensive and not give Putin respite

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has commented on the slow progress during the counteroffensive during Scott Pelley's 60 Minutes programme on CBS, saying it is now important for Ukrainian defenders to move forward, even if only for short distances, and not give Putin a break.

Source: СBS

Quote from Zelenskyy: "We need to liberate our territory as much as possible and move forward, even if it's less than [half a mile or] a hundred [yards] we must do it. We mustn't give Putin a break."

Details: Zelenskyy admitted that progress in the counteroffensive is slow, but he said Ukrainian troops are continuing to move forward, saying the front is like an artillery duel now, where the Russians and Ukrainians each fire 40,000 shells a day. Drone usage in the war has also slowed progress.

"It's a difficult situation. I will be completely honest with you. We have the initiative. This is a plus. We stopped the Russian offensive and we moved onto a counteroffensive. And despite that, it's not very fast. It is important that we are moving forward every day and liberating territory," Zelenskyy emphasised.

Scott Pelley also asked Zelenskyy what Putin is trying to achieve by killing civilians.

"To break [us]. And by choosing civilian targets, Putin wanted to achieve exactly this – to break [us]. This person [Putin – ed.] who has made his way with such bloody actions, with everything he has said, cannot be trusted. There is no trust in such a person because he has not been a human being for a long time," Zelenskyy noted.

Background: On Sunday, 17 September, Ukraine’s Defence Forces liberated the settlement of Klishchiivka on the Bakhmut front.

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