Active Assault Actions Of AFU In Donbas Are Already Counteroffensive - Maliar

Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar says that one should not wait for a counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at a specific time in a particular direction, active assault actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Bakhmut, Mariinka in the Avdiivka, Lyman directions - this is already a counteroffensive.

Maliar announced this on her Telegram channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The Armed Forces are not currently preparing one thing - for a specific time in any particular direction. The Armed Forces of Ukraine prepare the entire complex of defensive and counteroffensive measures every day. And, in fact, active assault actions in Bakhmut, Mariinka in the Avdiivka, Lyman front directions can also be considered an element of the counteroffensive," she wrote.

Maliar notes that it is not necessary to reduce a public counteroffensive only to some active offensive actions, because it is a strategic goal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - to liberate all temporarily occupied territories, so it is incorrect to talk narrowly about a counteroffensive, this is a huge set of actions and measures carried out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"Everything combined, if we are talking about our strategic goal, can be called counteroffensive measures. They include the preparation of equipment, people, the preparation of reserve, the formation of tactics (plans "A," "B," "C," because there cannot be only one option, because the enemy also responds to this). And you need to understand that such decisions are made in a very short time, and not in a month or two," she said.

Maliar stressed that the offensive plan is finally chosen in such a way that the enemy cannot react.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov said that Ukraine will launch a counteroffensive when it reaches the required level of military readiness, it is only a matter of time.