Ukraine aims to amass 'million-strong army' to fight Russia, says defence minister

Ukraine has touted plans to amass a "million-strong army" equipped with Nato weapons to fight Russian forces.

However, the comments by Defence minister Oleksii Reznikov are being seen as more of a rallying cry than a concrete plan for a counter offensive.

They come as Russia makes gains in the eastern Donbas region, and continues to pound areas across Ukraine.

Mr Reznikov also said that retaking the country's southern Black Sea coast was vital to the country's economy.

In his interview with The Times newspaper, the minister said weapons deliveries needed to be sped up.

He praised the UK for being "key" in the transition from providing Ukraine with Soviet-era weapons to the more effective Nato-standard air defence systems and ammunition.

"We need more, quickly, to save the lives of our soldiers. Each day we're waiting for howitzers, we can lose a hundred soldiers," he said.

The defence minister added: "We have approximately 700,000 in the armed forces and when you add the national guard, police, border guard, we are around a million-strong."

However, analysts have cautioned against taking the figure of one million at face value.

"It's not a million-strong force that will be conducting a counter-attack," Dr Jack Watling, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told the BBC.

"Normally you would want operational surprise when you launch a counter-attack, so announcing it publicly is partly about forcing the Russians to have to commit resources more widely to guard against this threat."

Meanwhile, Russia's offensive continues relentlessly, especially in the Donetsk region.

In one bloody incident on Sunday, a night-time rocket strike on a block of flats killed 30 people, local Ukrainian officials said. Nine people were rescued from the rubble in Chasiv Yar, near the city of Kramatorsk. Rescuers are still looking for survivors.

On Monday, six people were killed and 31 wounded when residential areas in the northeastern city of Kharkiv were struck by Russian shells, the regional governor said.

There's always a danger when politicians directly intervene in military campaigns.

Oleksii Reznikov said an offensive to recapture some of the territory taken by Russia was "politically very necessary".

It's also economically important, not least to try to resume exports of Ukrainian grain via Black Sea ports. Ukraine may believe that while Russia focuses its military effort in the east, now is a good time to try to take back parts of the south.

But the truth is that much of Ukraine's military effort and resources are already being consumed by fierce fighting in the Donbas.

We have spoken to a number of units that have already lost more than half their troops and need reinforcements.

Ukraine's confidence has been boosted by the supply of more advanced long-range artillery systems - but still not in the number Ukraine says it need.

The question is whether Ukraine is really yet ready to conduct a major offensive in the south, while its forces try to halt Russia's advances in the east?

I've been told that Western politicians have already made clear to senior Ukrainian politicians and military commanders that now is not the time to try to launch a major counter-offensive.

It may be good for morale, but it could easily stall. So far Ukraine's counter-offensive operations around Kharkiv and Kherson have had limited success. They still need time to rebuild their army.

Russia's own initial invasion of Ukraine highlights the dangers of fighting on multiple fronts. It failed to achieve most of its objectives. It's only seen some success in the east by concentrating its forces.