Russia-Ukraine war live: world expecting success ‘too quickly’, says Zelenskiy

Ukraine president warns against expecting too much success too quickly

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said: “The modern world is set up in such a way that it becomes accustomed to success too quickly. When the full-scale aggression began, many in the world did not think Ukraine would endure,” in his nightly video address on Tuesday.

Zelenskiy has previously rejected criticism, mainly from western sources, that the counteroffensive against Russia was proceeding too slowly, saying the war was not akin to a Hollywood movie set.

Ukraine’s military said Russian forces were gearing up for fresh attacks in different sections of the front, but there has been little movement along the 1,000km frontline in recent months.

Ukraine’s president applauded Ukrainian offensive moves that have restricted the operations of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, but he said no one should expect rapid success stories in repelling Russia’s 20-month-old invasion.

Zelenskiy also said a meeting with senior commanders had looked at sectors engulfed by the fiercest fighting, including the key areas of Avdiivka and Kupiansk where Russia has been on the offensive in recent weeks.

Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the military administration in Avdiivka, said the shattered eastern city was bracing for another wave of the attacks it had been withstanding since mid-October.

Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow’s forces had conducted successful attacks near the town of Bakhmut – an area largely destroyed and captured by Russian forces in May. Reuters could not verify accounts of fighting from either side.