Don’t expect quick Ukrainian military successes, says top aide

(Reuters) – People should not expect Ukraine to rack up quick victories against Russian troops during a counteroffensive because Kyiv does not want to lose too many troops, a senior presidential aide said on Wednesday.

“It is a very slow process, because we value people, because we need as many Ukrainians as possible to come back home,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“There will be no quick success … a quick success always means a lot of blood,” he said in a Youtube interview.

Earlier in the day, a regional official said Ukrainian forces had had “successes” in three areas of the Russian-occupied region of Kherson. Kyiv announced the start of a southern push to retake territory on Monday.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jonathan Oatis)