Ukraine Mocks Russian Offensive Slow Down: ‘Good Old Fashioned Retreat’

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry mocked a recent claim by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that Russia has slowed down its military offensive against Ukraine to avoid civilian casualties.

At a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Uzbekistan on Wednesday, Shoigu said: “Everything is being done to avoid casualties among civilians. Of course, this slows down the pace of the offensive, but we are doing this deliberately.”

In response, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry tweeted: “The king of ‘goodwill gestures’, Russia’s defense minister, announced today that the occupiers are deliberately slowing down the campaign in Ukraine.

“We promise to do our best to turn this ‘slowdown’ into a good old- fashioned retreat. Or as Russians like to say… a reversed offensive.”

The Ukrainian tweet was widely shared, receiving over 780 retweets and 7,000 likes.

It wasn’t the only taunt Kyiv directed towards Russia on Wednesday, which marked Ukrainian Independence Day.

In a separate tweet, the Defense Ministry said: “Russia, today – just like half a year ago – you still have the opportunity to sign your capitulation, before we destroy you on our land. Do not lose your chance, the clock is ticking… tick-tock, tick-tock.”

The Ukrainians have made a habit of satirizing their Russian adversaries throughout the conflict.

On August 9, explosions rocked the Russian Saky air base in Crimea, destroying nine warplanes.

Video of the attack was filmed by visibly shocked Russian tourists at a nearby resort, after which there was a tourist exodus from the area.

In response, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry produced a video warning Russian tourists not to visit “Ukrainian Crimea”, unless “they want an unpleasantly hot summer break”.

With the 1983 Bananarama hit Cruel Summer playing in the background, it suggested alternative destinations and said tourists going to Crimea had made a “big mistake.”

The video went viral receiving more than 2.2 million views, and 58,000 likes, on YouTube alone.

Ukrainian soldiers ride an armored personnel carrier (APC) on a road in the Donetsk region on August 13, 2022, amid the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. On Wednesday, the Ukrainians mocked Russia’s claim to be slowing its operation to avoid civilian casualties. ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP/GETTY

The Ukraine conflict has developed into what NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called “a grinding war of attrition”, with neither side making significant advances over the past month.

On Wednesday a suspected Russian rocket attack on a train station in the central town of Chaplyne left 25 dead.

After Russia failed to seize Kyiv early in the war with an aggressive push from Belarus, Russia withdrew its troops from territory around the Ukrainian capital.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin sparked ridicule by saying the move was done to create “the right conditions for future negotiations”.