European officials say Kiev's allies are increasingly skeptical of the Ukrainian military's ability to make a breakthrough in the war against Russian forces this year.
Kiev's allies are also underestimating their expectations for the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive and are considering the need for intense fighting, the agency said, noting that they are likely to start the offensive by mid-May and it will be military action in several directions.
Bloomberg said the most realistic goal was for Ukrainian forces to advance 30 kilometers to target Russian artillery supply lines.
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba assured Al Jazeera that the expected counterattack is affected by the speed of the arrival of support to Ukraine, noting that his country will continue to fight until the last Russian soldier leaves the country.
"We are the ones who want peace the most, but it will not be at the expense of giving up our land," he said.
Ukrainian pressure
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and senior officials have been pressing Western allies to supply Ukraine with more weapons, which Kiev hopes will enable it to launch a major counterattack later this year.
Zelenskiy said in a video address late on Thursday: "We are counting our soldiers. We look forward to the arrival of the weapons pledged by our partners. We bring victory as close to us as possible."
The head of the Ukrainian intelligence Kirill Budanov also assured that everyone will feel in the near future the results of the counterattack of Ukrainian forces on Russian-controlled positions.
In an interview with ABC News, he said the success of the counterattack was essential, not only for the Ukrainians but also for the allies who provide them with money and ammunition.
Without victories on the ground, sooner or later the question will arise whether it is worth continuing to support Ukraine.
Chinese Components
On the other hand, Reuters quoted an adviser in the Ukrainian president's office as saying that Ukrainian forces have found an increasing number of Chinese electronic components in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, as Western supplies to Moscow are shrinking due to sanctions.
Reuters noted that intelligence gathered by Ukrainian experts pointed to the presence of Chinese-made components in the navigation system of an Orlan drone that previously used a Swiss system.
Experts also reported that Chinese parts of the firefighting system were found in Russian tanks that used French-made parts.
Battles of Akhmut
On the ground, Russia announced on Friday that its forces are fighting for control of the western regions of Bakhmout, where fighting has been raging for months, while some sources said that Ukraine continues to bring in more troops to defend the city.
Moscow has been seeking control of Pakhmuth since last summer in what has become the longest running battle and the deadliest death toll since Russia's war on Ukraine began more than a year ago.
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that fighters from the Wagner paramilitary group were advancing towards the city centre with the support of the Russian air force.
"Wagner attack units are engaged in intensive combat operations to take control of the western areas of the city," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The statement noted that the Russian airborne forces "support the offensive teams and curb the enemy's attempts to deliver ammunition to the city and the involvement of reservists".
Russia confirmed on Thursday that its forces are besieging Ukrainian forces in Bakhmout and preventing the entry of any reinforcements to it, which Kiev strongly denied, stressing that the Ukrainian army continues to supply its forces inside Bakhmout with everything they need.
On the other hand, a Russian bombing on an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk today killed at least five people and injured 15 others, the local governor announced, noting that there may be people under the rubble.
Sloviansk is located in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, but it is close to Russian-controlled territory.
Rescue of soldiers
Earlier in the day, Kiev announced that it had recovered 82 bodies of its soldiers from Russian-controlled territory.
The Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories in Ukraine did not give any details on how the bodies were recovered, but said the recovery was carried out "in accordance with the rules of the Geneva Conventions".
Ukrainian and Russian forces have periodically exchanged prisoners during the 14th month of the Russian war, and Russia holds large swathes of territory in eastern and southern Ukraine.