Financial Times: Ukraine on active defensive, Russia may be preparing major new offensive this summer

The Ukrainian army is moving to active defence, and one possible reason is that Russia may be preparing a new major offensive this summer.

Source: Financial Times 

Details: An article in the Financial Times (FT) points out that Ukraine has switched to "active defence" tactics, which was recently reaffirmed by Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, who said that the Ukrainian army's goals remain to hold its positions and to exhaust the Russians. 

The authors cite the assumption of Ukrainian security officials that "Russia may be planning a large-scale offensive as early as summer". 

Quote: "Its [the offensive's – ed.] goal would be to capture the remainder of four regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – Putin claimed to have annexed in September 2022. In addition, the officials say, another attempt at Kharkiv or even Kyiv was not out of the question. 

A newly declassified US intelligence assessment reviewed by the FT in December also notes that Putin's ultimate goal in Ukraine of conquering the country and subjugating its people remains unchanged." 

Details: The authors emphasise that whether Russia will be able to achieve these goals remains in question. "Whether the Russians will be successful is another question. [Kyrylo] Budanov [the head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence – ed.] is not convinced that his enemies can produce as many shells and troops as they are losing, even with North Korea’s support. On top of that, Ukrainians have proven adept at defending their territory," the article says.

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