Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko's ambitions of building an embassy on a plot of land previously allocated to Russia have been shelved after the federal government ruled out a future diplomatic presence on the site.
The Ukrainian embassy currently rents a space in Civic but Mr Myroshnychenko said he was "on the record" about wanting to build an embassy, preferably on the former Russian site.
Mr Myroshnychenko was optimistic about the possibility of a move to Yarralumla after the National Capital Authority cancelled Russia's lease there last year due to a lack of development.
The Federal Court in May said the authority's decision was invalid but the government, citing national security advice, quickly moved to pass legislation that would cancel Russia's lease there. The High Court last week rejected the embassy's bid to hang on to the site.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil last month said the government has decided that "this land will not be used for a future diplomatic presence".
Mr Myroshnychenko welcomed the decision to block Russia from the site and said if Ukraine couldn't have the land, "we'll just build [the embassy] where we are assigned".
"That level of relationship we have now on a diplomatic level could be marked by brick and mortar ... where Ukraine could own that residence and embassy building for the next ambassador ... and continue developing those bilateral relations," he said.
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova last week denounced the Australian government's decision to terminate the lease agreement for the new embassy.
'It's the beginning of the end'
Just days earlier, the Kremlin was rocked by a deeper crisis after Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigozhin ordered his private army to march on Moscow.
The mutiny lasted around a day before Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko reportedly brokered a deal between President Vladimir Putin and Mr Prigozhin, who denied he had intentions to overthrow the government.
But Mr Myroshnychenko said the course of events demonstrated that Mr Putin's power was diminishing.
"He's coming out of that much weakened," he said.
"The fact that somebody could challenge the leadership is just phenomenal. I think it's just the first sign. It's the beginning of the end."
It comes as Ukraine continues with its counteroffensive in the east and south of the country. Deputy Minister of Defence Hanna Maliar this week said the country's military has reclaimed more than 158 square kilometres of territory in the south since Kyiv officially launched the counteroffensive in June but according to reports, gains have been slow.
Mr Myroshnychenko said he didn't know whether the situation with Wagner troops will have an impact on the counteroffensive but that it hasn't stopped ongoing attacks on Ukraine.
"As everyone was watching Wagner, Russia kept shelling and sending missiles and drones into Kyiv and other cities," he said.
Last Tuesday, Moscow launched a deadly attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, killing at least 12 people, including three children, and injuring dozens of others.
Mr Myroshnychenko said Ukraine has had some breakthroughs in the counteroffensive but it was too early to judge the progress.
He said there were "heavy battlefields and breaking through those three lines of the Russian defence is a real challenge".
"At the end of the day, the world has not done anything similar since the second World War and there's not a single army general who knows how to do it right," Mr Myroshnychenko said.
"Ukraine is doing the best it can to defeat Russians on the battlefield."
Australia's $110 million aid package
After months of Ukraine lobbying the Australian government for more assistance, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a $110 million military and humanitarian package for the country, which included 70 military vehicles and a supply of 105mm artillery ammunition. But the package came without the additional Bushmaster troop carriers or Hawkei armoured vehicles that Ukraine had been calling for.
Australia prides itself on being one of the largest non-Nato contributors of military aid to Ukraine but the new package drew scathing criticism from defence analysts and the Coalition, opposition leader Peter Dutton describing it as a "garage sale" and accusing the government of "just clearing out old equipment".
Mr Dutton continued his criticism of the package on Wednesday, telling reporters that pressure was building on the government to provide "meaningful support to Ukrainians".
"Men, women and children will lose their lives in Ukraine without the assistance of countries like Australia," he said.
"The Ukrainian defence authorities at the moment, who know the situation best on the ground, have given a list of defence materiel and equipment that they believe will give them the best effort to fight the Russians and the government needs to stop listening to bureaucrats, and start acting in our country's best interests, but most importantly, in the best interests of Ukrainians who need that equipment to push back against the Russians."
Mr Myroshnychenko last week welcomed the assistance, telling The Canberra Times he hoped Australian support would continue and include Bushmasters and Hawkeis. A large number of the Hawkei fleet is currently having a breaking fault fixed.
Mr Myroshnychenko said assistance in the form of the two vehicles served both countries.
"Ukraine became a place where probably [the Bushmasters] got the biggest international prominence ever," he said.
"I think it was good advertising for an Australian brand, which I believe may actually generate more orders to their facility and that will keep the facility in Bendigo going, creating jobs, paying taxes, employing people."
He said Ukraine was also "an ideal testing ground" for the Hawkei vehicles.
