Ukraine’s President Zelensky has said his country needs more time to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive. Russia has dug in along 900 miles of the frontline and seems to be biding time – hoping Western support will wane – while Ukraine is under pressure from its backers to produce results with the enormous influx of military aid. “We can go forward and, I think, be successful,” Zelensky said, “But we’d lose a lot of people.” The interview followed reports that Ukrainian soldiers made gains – about three square miles – around Bakhmut for the first time since March. Earlier this week, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Russian military units of abandoning their flank. “Today, everything is being done so that the front line crumbles…Everyone fled.”
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