Ukraine has plan for new offensive against Russia, says Zelenskiy

KYIV — Ukraine has a clear plan for a new counteroffensive against Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, adding that he could not disclose details publicly.

Kyiv’s troops conducted a counteroffensive last year, but were unable to break through prepared defensive lines in the Russian-occupied south and east.

“There is a plan [for a counteroffensive], the plan is clear, I can’t tell you the details,” Zelenskiy told a news conference in the capital Kyiv.

He said that a major military shakeup that saw the head of Ukraine’s military replaced earlier this month was connected to the new plan of action on the battlefield.

“This plan is related to the change of management, there are corresponding changes. Several plans will be prepared due to a leak of information,” Zelenskiy said, without elaborating.

Zelenskiy said earlier that Kyiv’s plans to conduct a counteroffensive last year had been leaked and ended up “on a desk in the Kremlin” before the operation had even begun.

He did not say how that leak had occurred.

Zelenskiy, who also said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died since the start of Russia’s invasion, said troop rotations were critically important for the war effort and that Ukraine needed to better prepare its reserve forces. — Reuters