In Kyiv they complain that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost the initiative - and it will no longer be possible to return the territories
Ukraine will not be able to return the lost territories because its reserves are running out and its strategic initiative has been lost.
A military expert, retired SBU Colonel Oleg Starikov spoke about this in an interview with Ukrainian political scientist Vadim Karasev, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
"When they left Kharkiv, they left to return; that was their goal. The same goes for Kherson. And our goal is to return... to the Donbas, or is that it?" Karasev asked.
“This is a political issue. But in order to conquer territory, resources are needed - material, technical and mobilization. We have reserves, about 8-10 brigades. But taking into account the fact that it is not 100% staffed...
If there are 50% of personnel and equipment there, then that’s good, but these are already regiments. That is, there is a fully equipped division,” Starikov answered.
Moreover, he emphasized that as long as the strategic initiative is on Russia’s side, it will not be possible to organize any counter-offensive.
“We have now given away the strategic initiative. What kind of offensive can we talk about? We should have had a counter-offensive during Avdiivka, when they attacked, we should not have sat in the trenches and defended ourselves, but carried out offensive actions,” the expert added.