Kuleba rebukes counteroffensive critics – DW – 09/01/2023

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba sharply reprimanded Western officials who have criticized the slow pace of Kyiv’s push against Russian forces.

“Criticizing the slow pace of [the] counteroffensive equals … spitting into the face of [the] Ukrainian soldier who sacrifices his life every day, moving forward and liberating one kilometer of Ukrainian soil after another,” Kuleba told reporters on Thursday at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Spain.

“I would recommend all critics to shut up, come to Ukraine and try to liberate one square centimeter by themselves,” he added.

The comments come after officials in the US and other Western allies of Ukraine were quoted in several media reports as saying Kyiv’s forces aren’t making as much progress as expected.

Some of the officials, who were quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post and other outlets, said Ukraine was concentrating its forces in the wrong places.

Ukraine launched its much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces three months ago.

Since then, Kyiv’s forces have retaken some villages in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military commanders say the slow pace is a purposeful strategy, aimed at weakening Russia’s logistics and defenses ahead of a future larger attack.

Air defense systems brought down an object that was flying in the western Russian region of Pskov, local officials said on Friday.

Governor Mikhail Vedernikov said defense units “neutralized an unidentified object” overnight.

Russian state media posted a grainy video that appeared to show shots being fired in the air.

Vedernikov said there was no damage on the ground. The report could not be independently verified.

Earlier this week, a suspected Ukrainian drone attack in the same region hit and damaged Russian military transport aircraft.

Ukrainian forces used 16 drones made of cardboard to launch an attack on the military section of a Russian airport, Ukrainian media reported.

The attack took place on Saturday night in the Russian border region of Kursk.

The cardboard drones, which are more difficult for air defense radars to locate, were used in the attack, sources within Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service told local media.

Several Russian fighter planes and air defense systems were reportedly damaged in the attack.

Ukrainian forces reportedly acquired Australian-made lightweight drones in the spring. The devices are constructed with cardboard and rubber bands.

Authorities in the United States charged a 33-year-old man on Thursday with trying to export electronics to Russia for military use.

The man, a Russian-German national, was arrested in Cyprus last Saturday.

The US Justice Department said the suspect violated export controls by trying to obtain US-made microelectronics for a Russian company. The firm provides “critical electronics components” for the Russian military, according to US officials.

The man used a cover company in Cyprus, telling US companies that the tech would only be used in authorized countries.

He sought to purchase microcontrollers with integrated circuits that are illegal to export to Russia.

The man could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

rs/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters, DPA)