Jens Stoltenberg made the assessment in an interview with US broadcaster CNN on Wednesday night, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported.
The NATO chief said: "The Ukrainians are gradually gaining ground, meaning that they are pushing back the Russians and they are able to get through some of these heavily defended territories, not least minefields. And it is even important to support them.”
Stoltenberg added: "What we have seen is that Ukrainians have exceeded expectations again and again, and we have to remember where the whole thing started last year with the full-fledged invasion by Russia into Ukraine.”
The NATO chief noted that, at the time, ”experts believed that Ukraine will only last for a few days or a few weeks.”
He stated: “Now, they have liberated the north, around Kyiv, the east, around Kharkiv, and the territory in the south, Kherson. Now they are making even more gains."
Stoltenberg added that “this is a fierce fight, it's a tough fight, and it’s no easy way to victory for the Ukrainians, but they are making achievements and gaining ground."
Asked about the tactics of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, the NATO chief stated that Kyiv had to be provided with advice and support, "but at the end of the day, this is the Ukrainians that has to make those decisions."
Stoltenberg said that advanced air defence systems supplied to Ukraine by NATO allies were "proven extremely effective," and moreover "Ukrainians are skillful in operating these systems," as well as drones and long-range cruise missiles, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
Ukrainian troops advance in east, south: reports
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War has reported that Ukraine’s light infantry infiltrated east of Russian field fortifications near the village of Verbove, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, as of August 30.
The US think tank said on Wednesday night that geolocated footage showed “Ukrainian infantry on the northwestern outskirts of Verbove, indicating that Russian control over the outskirts of the settlement is degraded.”
The ISW cautioned that, according to Russian sources, “Ukrainian forces have not yet breached the defensive line around Verbove.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces were successful in the Novodanylivka-Novopokropivka (4-15km south of Orikhiv) and Mala Tokmachka-Verbove (7-18km southeast of Orikhiv) directions, also in Zaporizhzhia, according to the ISW.
Officials in Kyiv also said that Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations south of the Russian-held city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, “and geolocated footage published on August 28 shows that Ukrainian forces marginally advanced south of Klishchiivka (6km southwest of Bakhmut),” the US think tank added.
The ISW cited a "Kremlin-affiliated blogger" as claiming that "Ukrainian forces advanced in the direction of Volodyne (13km south of Velyka Novosilka) on the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border” and that “Russian forces had to retreat from several heights in the area.”
Also, a military spokesperson on Thursday said that Ukrainian armed forces were making progress in the direction of Novoprokopivka, the village beyond newly liberated Robotyne, in the direction of the southern port of Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
These reports suggest Ukrainian forces are moving further south, with the ultimate goal of breaking through to the Sea of Azov, cutting off Russia’s logistics and communications lines with its troops in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region and the Moscow-occupied Crimean peninsula, The Guardian added.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 554 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, The Guardian, CNN, Ukrainska Pravda, ISW