“Time to take back what's ours”. Oleksiy Danilov on Ukraine's counter-offensive: It can start tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week

“Kyiv is ready to launch a counter-offensive against Russian forces,” said Oleksiy Danilov. The politician indicated that the attack aimed at recapturing the occupied territories could start “tomorrow or next week”. “We have no right to make a mistake, this is a historic moment,” he said. In turn, the commander of the Ukrainian army, Valery Załużny, published a recording encouraging Ukrainian soldiers to fight.

“Ukraine is ready to launch the long-awaited counter-offensive against Russian forces,” Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview with the BBC.

The secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine did not give a specific date, but said that the attack to retake the territory from the occupation forces of President Vladimir Putin could start at any moment.

Ukraine's counter-offensive. Danilov: This is a historic opportunity

Danilov said that the Ukrainian government “has no right to make a mistake” regarding the decision to launch a counter-offensive because it is a “historic opportunity” that we “can't lose.”

“The armed forces will launch the attack when commanders feel it is the right moment to achieve the best result,” he said. We're always ready. Just as we were ready to defend our country at any time.

— It would be strange if I had to give a date for the beginning of this or these events. Our country faces a very important task, explained the Secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine.

Danilov: We have no days off during this war

Danilov dismissed suggestions that a counter-offensive had already begun, saying that “destroying Russian control centers and Russian military equipment” had been the task of the Ukrainian armed forces since February 24 last year – the day Russia launched its invasion. “We have no spare time during this war” he said.

The politician also defended the decision of the Ukrainian army to fight in Bakhmut for so many months.

“Bachmut is our land, our territory, and we had to fight there” he said. “If we start leaving every locality, it could lead us to our western border” Danilov warned.

The secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine also said that he was “absolutely calm” that Russia would start deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus. “This is nothing new to us” he explained. The interview was interrupted by a phone call from President Zelensky, who summoned Danilov to a meeting. As reported by the BBC, Ukraine has been scheduling a counter-offensive for months. He plans the attack so as to have as much time as possible to train troops and receive military equipment from the Western allies.

Ukraine's counter-offensive. “Time to take back what's ours”

Valery Załużny, who is the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, published a recording in a telegram encouraging Ukrainian soldiers to fight for the liberation of the occupied territories. The video was captioned “Time to take back what's ours”. In the video you can hear the words of a prayer for defeating the enemies of Ukraine.

“Ukraine, my homeland, our Lord, bless our decisive offensive, our holy vengeance, our holy victory” the soldiers recite.