they re not motivated to fight this war, and, arguably, they re fighting a war of liberation against the people that doesn t want to be liberated. a lot of people thought that this war was maybe becoming a kind of long, grinding artillery duel one that russia would eventually win by simply outnumbering the ukrainians and wearing them down. but the ukrainians, with their sudden battlefield success, have surprised the world again. and russia is responding with nuclear threats. translation: we will certainly use all the means at our disposal. - this is not a bluff. so the big question now is, can ukraine still win this war without provoking a wider conflict between nato and russia? i m going to try and break this down and explain how ukraine achieved such a success on the battlefield that it spooked president putin into taking desperate measures and issuing desperate threats. but first, let s just recap.
yes, the russians temporarily control now almost 20% of the territory. 20% of all of ukraine? yes. what about in the eastern part? the eastern part, that s where the most difficult fight is right now. this is the artillery duel where russians put in all the firepower they have, and they re trying not to even fight but to essentially destroy everything and reduce everything to rubble. now, despite the fact that they outnumber us, despite the fact they have many more artillery and shells and they also shoot from the caspian and other places, our brave defenders are holding the ground even under this very difficult circumstance. and as we saw already in the battle for kyiv, we can lose something temporarily. of course, we re trying to minimize that because we know what atrocities happen where russians control the territories. but we will get it back. i want our viewers to hear what president zelenskyy told the financial times today. watch this.
Unlike the defense of Kyiv, fighting in Donbas and eastern Ukraine is flatter, with more open terrain less hospitable to ambushes and hit-and-run attacks with anti-armor weapons.
we never planned to attack russia. we never planned to attack russia now. but we need to defend our territory. we need to repel the aggression. we need to get the enemy out from our territory. this is what we have been doing. and we re very grateful to the united states for all the support we have received so far. and we are working very hard now on the next packages, which will include very needed capabilities. so, again, i don t want to get into the discussions of, you know, specific phrases, but, again, just to repeat, we never planned to attack russia, &and think we are in very good discussions with the united states on the capability we need now for this phase of the battle. when we look at this phase of the battle, ukraine is losing territory. what does that mean for this war and for ukraine s future? well, this battle is very difficult. it is an artillery duel, where russia put everything after losing kyiv, after losing so
for just $49.99 a month for 24 months with a 2 -year price guarantee. call today. ukrainian troops trying to drive back russia s invasion could soon be getting advanced american battlefield rocket systems. ukraine s government says they re badly needed. nick paton walsh has more from the front lines. reporter: putin would leave little of what he claims to liberate. an artillery duel has been raging for days, torching the vital town. up on high in a position we were asked not to reveal, these ukrainian troops dug in and buoyant have a clear view of the damage below, but also of their enemy.