This is not a Hollywood movie: Zelensky admits counteroffensive is progressing slower than expected

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has admitted that several weeks into the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, advances on the battlefield are "slower than we would like."

“Some people perceive this like a Hollywood movie and expect results right now. That is not the case,” he told the BBC, adding, “People's lives are at risk.”

Ukraine asserts that during the counteroffensive, it has managed to liberate eight settlements in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, in total, Ukrainian troops have advanced 7 kilometers deep, and the area liberated in the south totals 113 square kilometers.

Zelensky explained that the offensive is challenging because Russian soldiers have mined 200,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory.