President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered the Ukrainian servicemen to de-occupy coastal areas in the south of the country, for which Ukraine is gathering millions of military forces equipped with Western weapons, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said.

"Ukraine is massing a million-strong fighting force equipped with western weapons to recover its southern territory from Russia, the nation's defence minister has revealed to The Times. In his first interview with a British newspaper since the invasion began, Oleksiy Reznikov said President Zelensky had ordered Ukraine's military to retake occupied coastal areas which are vital to the country’s economy," according to the Times article.

Reznikov said President of Ukraine Zelensky instructed the military leadership to develop appropriate plans.

"We understand that, politically, it is very necessary for our country. The president has given the order to the supreme military chief to draw up plans. After that the general staff are doing their homework and say to achieve this goal we need XYZ. This is my job. I am writing letters to counterparts in partner countries, the generals talk about why we need this kind of weaponry and then we get the political decisions," Reznikov said.

According to him, now there are about 700,000 people in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"We are people of the free world and with a real sense of justice and liberty. 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," he said.

Reznikov said Ukraine's recent withdrawal from Severodonetsk and Lysychansk were tactical losses needed to save lives, not strategic defeats. According to him, the democratic world has united to defeat Russia, and this war will finally put an end to her empire.

"We are sure the anti-Kremlin coalition was born. Our partners in London and Washington DC and other capitals, they are invested in us, not only with money but the expectations of their people that we have to make the Kremlin lose. We have to win this war together," the minister said.