In the second
week of its summer offensive.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky is insisting
that Ukraine
has not lost any of its positions,
only gained new ones.
Let's get right to CNN's
Ben Wedeman, who's in Zappa
Riga, Ukraine, for us.
Ben, what are you seeing
and hearing on the ground there?
Well, what we're seeing and hearing
are claims
by the Ukrainians
that they have taken territory.
They say they've taken control
of eight settlements
and that includes 44 square miles
of territory.
But the fighting is intense.
We heard from the
commander of Ukrainian armed forces
that the Russians have laid dense
minefields
and moved a lot of their reserves
to the southern front,
just south of here in Georgia,
to reinforce their lines
against the Ukrainian counteroffensive,
which, in the grand scheme of things,
has not really achieved much so far.
It's still early.
It's widely believed
the Ukrainians have yet
to commit the bulk of their forces
to the fight.
But this is something that,
you know,
we've been talking about for months.
So the Russians have been preparing
for months for this counter offensive.
And as anybody who's studied war knows,
it's much more difficult
to take territory than to defend it.
The Russians have had quite a few months
to prepare
for this
Ukrainian counteroffensive, Jake.
And Russia claims
to have destroyed
a Ukrainian
tank by detonating explosives remotely.
Is this a new battlefield tactic
that we're going to be seeing more
from the Russians?
And it's a first.
What we know is that according
to the telegram,
channel of the Russian defense ministry
that the Russians crammed this tank,
a t 54,
which dates
back to just the years after the
the Second World War
with tons of explosives and drove it
unmanned toward the Ukrainian lines.
What you see in this video
put out by the Russian Defense Ministry
is that the tank hits
what appears to be an anti-tank mine
and then is hit by an RPG round.
We believe
And then there's
this massive explosion about 300 yards
from the Ukrainian lines.
It's not clear how effective this tactic
actually is.
We don't know
of any
Ukrainian casualties
as a result of this attack.
We don't know if the Russians
and the Russians didn't
mention any
success in
breaking through the Ukrainian lines.
But it certainly represents a new tactic.
It's hard to say if this is a tactic
that's actually going
to make much
of a difference in this war Jake.
All right.
Ben Wedeman in Operation Ukraine for us.
Thank you so much.
Let's turn
now to Ukraine's
ambassador
to the United States, Oksana Markova.
Madam Ambassador,
we just heard the latest on gains
by Ukrainian troops
in the counteroffensive,
but this is obviously going to be a long,
hard slog.
How do you assess the
progress at the moment?
Including for seven men?
Many thanks for a journalist
to be ends up pretty easy
and I hope they will stay safe there.
Well, you know,
we knew it
going to be very difficult
And yet, as our commanders
and our president
says on a daily basis,
we are gaining ground.
We are liberated.
Ukraine is going to be very difficult.
It might not be as fast
as especially Ukrainians call
and recuperation would needed to be
or would want it to be.
But you know, it's a full fledged war.
It's a very difficult operation.
And as I told the commanders,
they said everything is going
according to the plan.
And we have very high trust
in our military commanders,
as they have shown
during the past 16 months.
They know what they're doing
and they are capable of doing it.
We just need a little bit more support,
a little bit more weapons.
So we're hearing from the Russians
that they're destroying
and targeting a number
of Ukrainian defenses,
including Bradley
fighting vehicles provided by the U.S.
and others in the West.
Can you confirm those losses?
And more larger,
more largely,
are you getting the support
you need to replenish those supplies
in order to continue
and then finish this fight?
Well, first of all, losses,
of course, are inevitable
in a full fledged war.
But Russians
so with the same vehicles all over again,
and whether it's even
where they are showing them again,
we know they have been lying
since the beginning of this war
and they will continue doing that.
We will not
divert our attention to.
So what they are saying,
we heard from our commanders that, again,
it's going
even better than we have expected.
We are repairing what we need to repair.
And the question
is, you know, as we say, to continue to
to get more assistance
and more supply
in order to be able to do it faster.
But again, the losses on the Russian side
are definitely much higher,
even though they are in defense.
And as you said earlier,
as we heard from Ben,
they have prepared for this for
for a long time.
So regardless of how difficult it is,
every Ukrainian life is precious for us.
Every meter
or feet of
Ukrainian territory
is has a strategic importance
We do not have any other option
than to liberate all Ukraine.
And the goal is to liberate
all Ukraine within our recognized
international borders.
We heard from the NATO's
secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg,
that at the upcoming summit next month,
NATO's not going to discuss
a formal invitation for Ukraine.
To join the NATO's alliance.
What's your response to that?
Might that setback Ukraine as you battle
to get Russia out of your country?
Major,
is the family of countries
with the principles that we share.
Ukraine, is it Europe,
established country,
its enhanced
opportunities partner
with NATO's since 2020.
We cooperate and we're very grateful
to the United States
and every member of NATO
who individually
are helping us on this front.
And you know,
we have been very clear
about what Ukraine would like to be
and where we see ourselves Since 2008,
you know we see ourselves
as the European country.
We would like to be part
of the transatlantic family.
You know,
it's in our hearts
it's in our Constitution since 2008.
And now,
of course, it will
take all of their friends
and partners in NATO
to share the same view
and to give us this invitation.
We know that the doors are open.
So we look forward to a very open
and friendly discussion
during this upcoming summit.
And I think not only we would like
to be part of NATO,
but Ukraine has a lot to add to NATO's.
And I think in this time
it's very important for us to stay united
and to
do whatever all we can,
whatever we can do to restore
the international order
that Russia has literally destroyed
by start of this full fledged war
after they attacked us in 2015.
Ambassador Markova, thank you
so much for your time today.
We really appreciate it all.