Every meter of Ukrainian territory retaken from the Russian occupation forces is “extremely important,” Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Friday.

“Our forward movement is the most important thing,” said the President of Ukraine during a video address at night after a meeting with the top military leadership.

“Every soldier, every new step we take, every meter of Ukrainian land freed from the enemy is extremely important,” he said.

Ukraine launched its long-awaited counteroffensive earlier this month and has already claimed to have retaken at least seven settlements.

Putin says that Ukrainian forces have no chance against the Russians

Speaking at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, the Russian president said that Volodymyr Zelenskyi will soon be completely dependent on equipment supplied by the West.

He added that Ukraine was unable to advance in the counteroffensive, and said that the Ukrainian military “doesn’t stand a chance” against the Russians.

Kyiv could be bombed

Speaking about the escalation of the war, Putin says that there is a “serious danger” of further involvement of NATO in the conflict and that there is no “doubt” that Western tanks are already “on fire” in Ukraine.

Referring to the attacks on Russia’s border, he says his troops could have destroyed part of central Kyiv in retaliation, but chose not to for “various reasons.”

He describes the cross-border attacks, for which Ukraine denies any responsibility, as an attempt to divert Moscow’s forces from other fronts.

Regarding nuclear weapons, he says that Russia “theoretically” could use nuclear weapons if there was a threat to its territorial integrity or existence, but it was not necessary.

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