Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday admitted that the much-hyped so-called "counter-offensive" of his country's soldiers against Russia has run into trouble, and Kiev's forces were in a "very difficult" situation at present.
"We see in which directions we are moving forward, but it is very difficult for us, thousands of mines," the Ukrainian leader said while addressing reporters with the visiting Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Kiev.
The video of his comments was subsequently shared on his official Telegram channel.
Zelensky's remarks come at a time when Ukrainian troops have suffered significant casualties while fighting the Russian armed forces in the conflict zone.
Ukrainian Losses in the 'Counter-Offensive'
As per a report by the Russian Ministry of Defense (Russian MoD), Ukraine has lost over 43,000 soldiers and nearly 5,000 weapons since the launch of their counter-offensive in Yuzhnodonetsk, Artyomovsk.
Among the military items that were demolished were the widely publicized German Leopard tanks (25), 26 warplanes, nine choppers, 21 US-built Bradley infantry vehicles, and seven other tanks of French origin.
Notably, Ukraine launched its counter-offensive on June 4 in the region of Yuzhnodonetsk, Artyomovsk of Donetsk. Armed with weapons mainly supplied by NATO, the Eastern European nation moved battle brigades to take on the Russians there, but as Zelensky mentioned, have failed to achieve any considerable success.
Zelensky's admission of a botched-up counter-offensive comes weeks after several defense experts opined that Ukraine was losing the battle against Russia.
A former CIA officer recently told Sputnik International that as Ukraine has suffered one setback after another on the frontlines, their authorities have banned foreign media from visiting the warzone because it would expose them in front of the public.
"Ukraine was not willing to take responsibility for launching an attack that has no chance of succeeding. Primarily because they lack air cover, they're now trying to blame journalists or someone else," Larry Johnson, a retired officer who served in the American intelligence agency CIA said.