The liberation of several villages under Russian occupation in recent weeks is not the “main event” of the planned attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the Financial Times, Reuters reports.

A Ukrainian soldier on a Swedish CV90 armored car on the Bakhmut frontPhoto: Roman Chop / AP / Profimedia

“When it happens, you will all see… Everyone will see everything,” he told the FT in an interview published on Wednesday, after the international press, which has been following the Ukrainian counteroffensive with interest, noted the slow progress against the well-fortified Russian positions

The main reserves of Ukrainian forces, including most of the brigades recently trained in the West and equipped with modern NATO tanks and armored vehicles, are not yet involved in the operation, Reznikov said.