On the part of Ukraine, there has long been talk of a (planned) counteroffensive. Now, a trailer has been released announcing the offensive.
Kyiv - What about the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the defensive war against Russia? Recently, this question has been difficult to answer even for military experts. Even they could not say for sure whether the spring offensive is already underway. However, it is becoming apparent that Ukraine is planning something much bigger, they say. Preparations for this are already underway. Now the Ukrainian army has announced the offensive - and in an unusual form.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, has posted a high-quality trailer on his verified Telegram account. What is usually customary, for example to announce new films or series, now gives a foretaste of a military counterstrike in the Ukraine war. The trailer, which can also be found on Reddit, goes on for about a minute and shows Ukrainian soldiers bracing themselves for battle or already fighting.
Ukrainian artillery © Madeleine Kelly/imago
Ukrainian trailer: "retribution" and "holy victory"
What can be seen in concrete terms: Resolute-looking soldiers stand in line, tanks roll over barren ground, artillery shells are inserted and fired. There is also talk in the trailer. Partly it is the voice of a voice-over in the background, partly the words come from an officer. He prepares the waiting soldiers for the fight. We are talking about Ukraine as a homeland. God is asked for help to defeat the enemies of the homeland. They had killed Ukrainian brothers and abused sisters.
The soldiers ask God to give them a good eye and a firm hand when shooting, and to let their weapons be effective. The words end with: "Bless our decisive offensive, our sacred retribution, our holy victory." The scenes are accompanied by bass-heavy music reminiscent of a war movie. In the course of the video, the music increases, becomes more and more powerful and louder. The officer is now shouting his announcements. The guns and tanks fire incessantly.
Announcement of Ukrainian counteroffensive - which is already said to be underway
The video is undoubtedly an announcement of Ukraine's spring offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that the offensive was already underway - and has been going on for days. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said this in an interview with Italian television last Wednesday. The actions have already begun, they say.
At the same time, Podolyak made it clear that Kiev would not attack Russian territory under any circumstances. It is only about the Russian positions in the territories occupied by Moscow in Ukraine. According to the adviser, they were not involved in the attacks in the Russian region of Belgorod. Putin is not even able to defend his own territory, Podolyak said.