Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to the Ukrainian presidency, tells AFP that he expects Kyiv's counteroffensive launched last month to recapture territory under Russian control to be long and grinding. "Of course, this operation will be quite difficult, huge, and will take quite a long time. But, meanwhile, Russia does not have the resources to, for example, take the initiative,that's already obvious", he says. SOUNDBITE