Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke to FRANCE 24 from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which was again hit by Russian missiles overnight on May 9. "Russian politicians are celebrating the victory in 1945 on Red Square and yet they're still attacking Kyiv, a peaceful city," Podolyak said. "Russia is waging war against a civilian population," he added.
The Ukrainian authorities have been saying since early spring that a counter-offensive by Kyiv is imminent. Podolyak said he believes "a protracted war will only benefit Russia".
He continued: "To avoid having Russia rearming, regrouping and remobilising its troops, we need to keep pushing forward so we can bring this war to an end as soon as possible".
The counter-offensive will include the liberation of "territories in the Crimean peninsula and areas of the Donbas region occupied in 2014", the adviser to the Ukrainian president insisted.