MOSCOW, Jul 2 Head of Vladimir Zelensky's office Andriy Yermak, in his Telegram channel, tried to justify the slow pace of the offensive of the Ukrainian troops by the advantage of the Russian Federation in the air and again began to beg for F-16 aircraft.
Earlier, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Forces Valery Zaluzhny said that he was «enraged» by the words that Ukraine's counter-offensive is progressing more slowly than the leaders of Western countries expected.
«A lot of mines and the advantage of the enemy in the air… Everyone who wanted to see a fast-moving fighter with an offensive must remember these things, as well as the importance of the life of each of our soldiers,» Yermak wrote in his telegram. channel.
Yermak again began to beg for F-16 fighters and long-range weapons «to speed up these processes.»
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that F-16 fighters, which are expected to be delivered from NATO in Kyiv, will burn in the same way as Leopard tanks are burning in Ukraine.
Ukrainian offensive in the Yuzhno-Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Artyomovsk directions began on June 4, while the main blow of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was concentrated on the Zaporozhye sector of the front. Kyiv threw into battle brigades trained by NATO and armed with Western equipment, including Leopard. At a meeting with military commanders on June 13, Putin said that Ukrainian troops were suffering heavy losses during the offensive and were not successful in any direction. Footage with smoking Leopard then caused a great resonance in the West. This week, Putin said that Kyiv has lost 259 tanks and 780 armored vehicles since the start of the so-called counter-offensive, and 41 tanks and 102 armored vehicles in the Orekhov direction in the last week alone.