It seems that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is inevitable. The front line in the country is noisy with the movement of vehicles and artillery strikes, regular explosions hit vital Russian targets in the occupied territories. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi assured that the counteroffensive “will happen”, but did not name the exact date, reports CNN.

Perhaps it has already begun; it could be in a few weeks. We don’t know, but the Ukrainians CNN spoke to in Kyiv are pinning their hopes on this long-awaited counteroffensive.

35-year-old Tetyana Kolle-Kolesnikova left her town of Volnovakha, Donetsk region, in the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion. Now lives and works in Kyiv as a manicurist.

“I expect that our army will win in any case and return all the occupied territories. And our family will finally be able to return home. We miss him very much,” she told CNN.

Jury and Kyivan Yurii Holovach also hopes for a positive outcome of the counteroffensive, but he also does not want the Ukrainian troops to feel rushed.

“They must be trained and prepared. Even if it takes more time to prepare, it is better, because then we will have more weapons. We need long-range weapons to make the counteroffensive successful,” he said.

26-year-old Tetyana Kravets, administrator of a notary office in Kyiv, hopes that the counteroffensive will be successful and the country will be able to return to its pre-war state.

Contrary to their expectations, 56-year-old Ruslan Strik, who lives in Kyiv, believes that there may not be a counteroffensive at all. Recalling the observation of the first days of April 2022 in Mariupol – before the evacuation with his wife – he said that a successful counteroffensive would require military aviation.

“We don’t have planes! I remember, in Mariupol, the sky was theirs [al rușilor]. Therefore, there can be no counteroffensive without military aviation. Or maybe long-range weaponry can do the trick so you can take out their rear logistics. But it is very dangerous without them,” he said.

“I want [mă] i’m coming home But we need fighters and long-range artillery. Otherwise, there will be large losses of personnel,” he added.

“I don’t think a specific date will be announced”

The First Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Regional Council in Kherson, Yuriy Sobolevskyi, said that he did not believe in the announcement of a specific date for the expected counteroffensive in the south.

“In essence, what the armed forces are doing in our southern direction can be considered a counteroffensive: conducting a fire regime, constantly destroying military facilities and reducing the enemy’s combat capability,” he said.

“Therefore, I do not think that there will be a date from which it will be considered that the counteroffensive has already begun,” Sobolevsky said.

He expressed optimism that Ukraine will be able to return its territory to Russia.

“Because what is happening now in the temporarily occupied territory is just a nightmare. This should not be the case in the 21st century. These are torture chambers, forced passports and deportation of children, etc.,” he said, quoted by CNN.

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