The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, has urged this Friday not to consider the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive as a “decisive battle”, since this possibility “distorts” the actions of the Armed Forces on the ground.
“If a counteroffensive is needed, there will be. If two or more are needed, too. This is not a conflict that can be frozen,” Kuleba said, adding that “a decisive battle is one that would lead to the total liberation of the Ukrainian territories.”
Kuleba recalled, however, in a press conference with the leaders of the Baltic and Northern European Foreign Affairs from Odesa, that kyiv will fight “until victory.” “All that is clear,” he added, according to the Ukrinform news agency.
Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikovhas indicated this Friday that the preparations for a counteroffensive against the Russian forces are in their final phase and added that “the training is ending.”
“In addition to obtaining weapons and military equipment, our military must know how to use them. We have received very modern systems”Reznikov explained during a press conference in which he explained that the moment of launching the operation will be determined by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army.
Ukrainians support crowdfunding campaigns to equip the army
As Ukraine aspires to receive more heavy weaponry of his allies to prepare for the expected counteroffensivemany citizens contribute funds to buy hundreds of drones, machine guns and even armored personnel carriers abroad.
“It could have been one of us or one of our loved ones,” said Sabina Dadasheva, a 35-year-old translator from Lviv (west) this Friday, after the news of the multiple fatalities after the impact of a Russian missile on a apartment building in Umán (downtown).
Sabina is one of the thousands of volunteers who, in addition to carrying out their daily work, dedicate themselves to raise funds or coordinate the purchase of military equipment required by the country’s armed forces.
“If we are not serving in the military, then what we can do to face the threat is support our soldiers and make a habit of it,” he wrote to his followers on social media, urging them to contribute to the purchase of a pair of binoculars. thermal vision worth 5,000 euros for a Ukrainian military unit.
In addition, Sabina raises funds for support the elderly who remain in the territories occupied by Russia.
“Despite all the international support and the weapons we received, the war can last a long time unless everyone contributes. I want to do something, even if it is just a drop in the bucket, ”he explained in statements to the news agency EFE.
According to some volunteers, it is likely that the volume of donations has decreased in recent times.
The economy contracted by more than 30% last year and many Ukrainians may be running out of savings. But at the same time, the number of fundraising campaigns is increasing, many with the aim of helping wounded soldiers and civilians.
Russian missile attacks, which leave a particularly high death toll, have often served as a rallying factor, and after the bloodiest incidents hundreds of millions of hryvnias have been raised by the largest civil organizations, enabling them to make large scale projects.
“Two of the latest armored vehicles we ordered have been delivered to the Ukrainian ground forces”announced this Thursday Sergiy Prytula, leader of the eponymous foundation.
This charitable organization has already acquired and delivered 101 vehicles purchased from private owners in the United Kingdom, thanks to the 236 million hryvnas (5.8 million euros) collected in just over a day at the height of the Russian attacks against the energy infrastructure.
The figure is high even when compared to the 1,550 supplied so far by allied countries. Some of the vehicles had to be restored, but even the old ones serve an important function on the front lines.
Oksana Lypa, a programmer from Lviv who donated to this campaign, explains that these types of appeals are especially motivating, since they “show that a small contribution can have a great effect”, according to what she told Efe.
According to the daily “Ekonomichna Pravda”, several organizations have purchased at least 155 transport vehicles, including Prytula’s, which previously paid for the military’s access to high-resolution satellite images.
Another foundation, “Vuelve a Casa Vivo”, recently reported that it had delivered 1,460 7.62-mm caliber machine guns worth €6.5 million, as well as hundreds of drones.
In the first year of the invasion alone, the two largest foundations raised €103 million and €154 million respectively, while other smaller campaigns are taking place all the time.
Oksana explains that lately she is trying to contribute smaller amounts to a larger number of campaigns, some in support of mobilized relatives and friends of acquaintances, others to equip units of particularly famous soldiers, as the need for specialized equipment such as thermal vision devices, drones or vehicles currently far exceeds what the State is capable of providing.
(With information from Europa Press and EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com