Zelenskiy Praises Ukrainian Border Guards As More Signs Point To Start Of Counteroffensive

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pictured on April 30 during events on the occasion of the Day of the Border Guard of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the "main battles" of the war against invading Russian forces lie ahead as Russia replaced its highest-ranking general in charge of logistics before a widely expected counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces.

Zelenskiy took part on April 30 in events marking the Day of the Border Guard of Ukraine, presenting awards and thanking border guards for firmly defending the state.

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"It is an honor for me to congratulate you today on...the Day of the Border Guard of Ukraine -- the steel and indomitable border guard of Ukraine," Zelenskiy said.

The president noted that border guard units are helping to defend Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, Maryinka, and other cities and villages of Donbas region and said more battles lie ahead.

"We must free our land and our people from Russian slavery. We have to restore the full line of our state border both on land and at sea," he said, according to a statement issued by his office.

Bakhmut has been the focus of a prolonged Russian assault, and each side on April 30 made claims about its status.

"Fierce fighting continues in the city of Bakhmut. The enemy is unable to take control over the city, despite throwing all its forces into the battle and having some success," Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said. But she added that the defense of Bakhmut "is coping with its military tasks."

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier its forces had taken four blocks of Bakhmut on April 30. Neither claim could be independently verified.

Malyar and other Ukrainian leaders have hinted that preparations for a counteroffensive are under way.

Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of the Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry, said earlier on April 30 that the preparation for the counteroffensive "is going according to plan" but would not elaborate.

A Ukrainian official commenting on April 29 about an explosion and fire at a fuel storage depot in Sevastopol tied the incident to the expected counteroffensive.

"This work is preparatory to the large-scale full-scale offensive that everyone expects," Natalia Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern military command, said in comments published by the UNIAN news agency.

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There was no independent confirmation of Humenyuk’s comments, and Kyiv has not formally claimed responsibility for the attack. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed head of the region, blamed Ukraine, saying drones carried out the strike.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on April 30 that Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev had been replaced as head of logistics by Aleksei Kuzmenkov, a former official of the National Guard.

The statement did not say why Mizintsev, who was appointed to the logistics post in September days after President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization, was replaced.

The announcement came as Zelenskiy had a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron in which he informed Macron about the situation on the front line and the outlook for developments in May and June.

"We discussed cooperation in working with other international partners to consolidate their support for the Ukrainian peace formula," Zelenskiy said on Telegram. "We coordinated our positions on the eve of important international events and agreed on the next concrete steps within the bilateral dialogue."

Zelenskiy said he thanked Macron for "comprehensive and effective support of Ukraine," and again emphasized the priority needs of Ukrainian forces, saying the "speed and specificity of the response is very important."

Later on April 30, Pope Francis told reporters that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict.

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The pope said he spoke about the situation in Ukraine with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and with Metropolitan Hilarion, the Russian Orthodox Church's representative in Budapest, during his weekend visit to Hungary.

"In these meetings we did not just talk about Little Red Riding Hood. We spoke of all these things. Everyone is interested in the road to peace," he said during an impromptu news conference on his flight back to Rome.

Francis also told reporters that the Vatican was willing to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war. Representatives of the Vatican have already helped mediate some prisoner exchanges and would do “all that is humanly possible” to reunite families, he said.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP