Ukraine reaching 1991 borders does not mean war end – soldier Firsov

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

We listen to radio intercepts, their reactions to our offensive. In Bakhmut district, from the side of Horlivka, we see - mostly from a quadcopter - them with shovels, digging trenches, building all kinds of fortifications, we, of course, attack there and thus destroy their plans, but its is 100% clear they are afraid," the serviceman said. 

He also added that the Ukrainian army has confidence in the military command, so as soon as the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces decides to launch a counteroffensive, the Ukrainian army will take all necessary actions.

Regarding society, Firsov recalled that in 2014 to 2016 there was a discussion about whether "Donbas should be liberated" and noted that now, after the start of the full-scale invasion, there is no such discussion and the whole country understands that "we need to fight for our territory to the last village." 

Answering a question about the general expectations of the counteroffensive, he added that the goal of the Ukrainian army is to reach the 1991 border as soon as possible.

"I'll make a small emphasis here: reaching the 1991 border does not mean the end of the war, it does not mean our victory. Because the enemy will continue to fire at residential buildings again. However, we can at least consider it a victory when we control the 1991 border and most of the guys who are in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk region return to their cities: Horlivka, Donetsk, Mariupol, Makiivka, etc.", Firsov said. 

• On May 4, it was reported that former Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin, who is allegedly at the front line, threatened to stop the Ukrainian army's counteroffensive with tactical nuclear weapons.