Those to use last reserve first will lose this war - Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Lapin

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"War is not a sport. Western partners should realize this. There is no need to rush us. Only Valerii Zaluzhnyi knows when the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counteroffensive will begin. However, today we do not see the Russians running out of reserves. And in this war, the loser is the one who is the first to use their last reserve. This conclusion is based on the nature and dynamics of the fighting," Lapin said.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces officer emphasized that the Ukrainian army must carefully prepare for the counteroffensive.

"I believe that we do not yet have the means to cover our counteroffensive from the sky. We need aviation to cover the offensive of our armored vehicles. We used to laugh at how the Russians attached so-called "grills" to their tanks on top. They really do not protect against Javelin ATGMs. However, the Russians now have “kamikaze” drones, so we now also weld and attach "grills" to our vehicles. And they really save the day. So we need to install them too," he added.

• On April 17, Russian troops tried to advance in Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka directions, while being on the defensive in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions. The Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to repel more than 70 attacks.

• Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has lost 183,130 soldiers, 3,661 tanks and 2,353 drones in the war against Ukraine.