Top Ukrainian general identifies minimum goal of Ukrainian counteroffensive in south

The commander of the Tavria operational and strategic grouping of troops, Oleksandr Tarnavsky, said this, according to CNN.

Ukrainian troops continue to conduct offensive operations in the Melitopol sector. They are destroying the enemy, liberating the temporarily occupied territories step by step, and consolidating their positions.

According to the Ukrainian general, a major breakthrough for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this counteroffensive is yet to come.

“I think it will happen after Tokmak," Tarnavsky said of the breakthrough. "At the moment the Russian forces are relying on the depth of their defensive line there.”

The general conceded that for the counteroffensive to be a success, Ukrainian forces need to at least reach the city of Tokmak. 

“Tokmak is the minimum goal,” he said. “The overall objective is to get to our state borders.”

He added that winter won't slow down Ukraine's counteroffensive

“The weather can be a serious obstacle during advance, but considering how we move forward, mostly without vehicles, I don’t think [the weather] will heavily influence the counteroffensive,” Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN.

• The day before, it was reported that heavy equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine overcame the Russian fortifications of the first line of Surovikin fortifications near the village of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia region for the first time.