MOSCOW, Aug 27 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, against the backdrop of Ukraine's unsuccessful counteroffensive, in an interview with Bloomberg promised to help Kiev as much as needed.
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«We always knew that (counteroffensive — ed.) would be a long process … We are ready for a war that will take as long as it takes, because we cannot and must not allow Russia to win» ;, — said the Canadian prime minister.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Yuzhnodonetsk, Artyomovsk and, first of all, Zaporozhye directions began on June 4th. Kiev deployed NATO-trained brigades armed with Western equipment, including the widely publicized Leopard tanks, into battle – subsequently, footage of vehicles smoking on the battlefield caused a resonance in the West. As President Vladimir Putin stated on July 21, there are no results for the Ukrainian troops, «at least so far,» and Western curators are «clearly disappointed» with the course of the «counteroffensive.» Kyiv, according to him, is not helped by «neither the colossal resources pumped in, nor the supply of weapons, tanks, artillery, armored vehicles, missiles, nor the dispatch of thousands of mercenaries and advisers.»
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on August 4 that since the start of the «counter-offensive» in June-July, Ukrainian troops have lost more than 43,000 people and over 4,900 pieces of weapons. Among the destroyed Ukrainian equipment are 26 aircraft, nine helicopters, 1831 armored vehicles, including 25 German Leopard tanks, seven French AMX wheeled tanks and 21 American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
Western media especially note the effectiveness of the minefields of the Russian Armed Forces. Against this background, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed the opinion that the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will go on «for many more months,» and the States began to supply cluster munitions to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Although, according to the interviewed experts, they are not able to radically change the situation.