'We are moving forward, destroying the enemy': Ukraine adviser admits attacks as Kyiv tight-lipped on counter-offensive
5 June 2023, 19:22 | Updated: 5 June 2023, 19:33
Ukraine is "moving forward" and "destroying the enemy" but a Kyiv military adviser refused to say the attacks are the much-awaited counter-offensive finally starting.
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Ukraine has launched a series of assaults on Russian lines in its occupied eastern parts.
Sources in Ukraine told the BBC that a number of small armoured operations are taking place, while Russia said it had been defending a major attack in the Donetsk region.
A counter attack in Bakhmut, the city Russia recently declared victory in after losing high numbers of men, is said to be under way.
Footage of the fighting has been released by Kyiv but the images have not been verified.
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Ukraine's Minister of Defense: Yesterday's Ukrainian offensive in Donetsk made it a 'successful'
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, Ukrainian Ministry of Defence adviser Yuriy Sak said: "Today, I think apart from the Ukrainian minister of defence and Ukrainian general staff, I think almost everybody has said that the counter offensive has begun.
"One thing we are confident in after almost 15 months of this aggressive and brutal war, this genocide against our people, is that if you want to win a war you need to be fighting a smart war.
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"And if you're fighting a smart war, you keep your mouth shut and you use the element of surprise as part of your strategy for success."
He pointed to the stunningly successful Ukrainian counter attack last year, which saw it boot out Russian forces around Kharkiv, in the east of the country, then retake Kherson, the only provincial capital that Moscow's forces ever managed to take.
Ukraine kept tight-lipped about that, apparently deceiving many into thinking they would strike at Kherson first.
This time, Ukraine also has the benefit of military training in the UK and a raft of Western equipment including tanks.
Mr Sak said the war should not be thought of like Game of Thrones, where armies line up, "someone waves the sword or shoots the signal gun and then it all begins".
However, he admitted: "What I can say, certain actions have begun happening and they have been happening for the last couple of weeks.
"But today was quite a successful day for the Ukrainian army."
The Russians claimed Ukraine had launched a "large-scale offensive" in Donetsk with six mechanised battalions and two tank battalions.
It said the army successfully defended those attacks, killing 300 and destroying 16 tanks - claims that are impossible to verify at this stage - and showed off what it said were military vehicles being fired upon.
But Mr Sak said Russia is trying to put out disinformation because they are "very nervous" because Ukraine has been so quiet about the counter-offensive.
"In Bakhmut, the terrorists, the Wagner Group, they've withdrawn from Bakhmut," he said.
"We have achieved success in Bakhmut by today - yes it is not full control of the city but in some parts of Bakhmut it's 700 metres, in some it's a kilometre and 200 metres.
"But we are moving forward, we are destroying the enemy, and the terrorist regime in the Kremlin needs to somehow disguise what is happening on the frontline."
In a video, Ukraine's military showed soldiers shushing the camera as it urged fighters to keep quiet about the expected operation.
"Plans love silence. There will be no announcement of the start," a message said.
Russia still holds onto chunks of the east and southern territories, having "annexed" four provinces there despite not controlling them fully.
Possible targets could include parts of the south that would cut off Russian forces from the land bridge to Crimea, the peninsula Moscow captured almost a decade ago.
Hanna Maliar, the deputy defence minister of Ukraine, said that Kyiv's forces are moving on a wide front and Russia is on the defensive, but did not brand it the start of the counter-offensive.
"The defensive operation includes everything, including counteroffensive actions," she said.
"Therefore, in some areas we are moving to offensive actions. The Bakhmut direction remains the epicentre of hostilities. There we are moving along a fairly wide front.
"We are successful. We occupy the dominant heights. The enemy is on the defensive, he wants to hold his position."
