People in Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia are hopeful that a major Ukrainian counter-offensive could be launched soon.

"Everyone is looking forward to it with bated breath. We don't know when it's coming and we don't need to know. It should start suddenly and end quickly. And we have to get to the Sea of Azov. That's what we hope: to liberate Melitopol and the nuclear power plant," Yuri, a resident of Zaporizhzhia, said.

"With favorable weather, Western help and new missiles, we will certainly liberate our territory. I believe we will have a victory parade in Sevastopol, it won't be long now," Vladimir, a resident of Dnipro, said.

"I come from occupied territory myself and I am really looking forward to this counter-offensive. I would even say even that the people in the occupied territories are anxiously awaiting this counter-offensive, because they want to be free. The occupation is taxing both morally and mentally. We all want to go home," Lyudmila, who fled to Zaporizhzhia, said.

There are rumors that the people are tired and there is some pressure for a ceasefire.

"People are exhausted and want a ceasefire. Should we just let everything go and not respond to what happened? What if the land is in fact given away? They will continue doing so. It must be one, all of our land.Thank you for helping us as you always do. They must be strangled no matter what," Nikolai, who lives in Dnipro, said.

Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin was seen visiting Mariupol late at night. "AK" from ERR invited people to comment on Putin's presence.

He was most likely not around. He never leaves his bunker in general. That is my opinion. Perhaps it was his doppelganger, but I doubt it," Yuri, a Zaporizhzhia resident, said.

"Of course not. That was not him, no matter who was there.  Everyone understands it could have been anyone but not Putin," Larissa, a Zaporizhia resident, said.

"It really does not make a difference whether he was there or not," Tatyana, a Dnipro resident, remarked.

While areas near the front line are under constant attack, life in Dnipro, for example, is relatively normal.

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