Ukraine expects a new strike from the north, but commander Syrskyi does not expect a direct attack on Kyiv. According to him, Moscow can focus on the Chernihiv region.
The Ukrainian army is preparing for a possible new attack by Russia from the north. However, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, does not expect an attempt to attack Kiev directly, or from the territory of Belarus. He said so on Tuesday in an interview with the Ukrainian television TSN. TASR informs about it according to the Reuters agency.
- The Ukrainian army is preparing for a possible new attack by Russia from the north.
- Oleksandr Syrskyj does not foresee a direct Russian attack on Kyiv or from Belarus.
- The most likely is an offensive maneuver from the Russian Bryansk region against the north of Ukraine.
“The most likely scenario, which is also confirmed by several sources, is a possible offensive maneuver in the north from the territory of Russia, specifically from the Briansk region,” said Syrskyi.
The targets of the Russian attack
However, the target of such an operation, he said, will not be the capital city of Kiev, which Russian forces tried to capture at the start of a full-scale invasion in February 2022. Instead, Moscow’s intention could be to occupy territory in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region and lure away Ukrainian forces that are deployed elsewhere along the 1,250-kilometer front line.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has repeatedly warned that the attack could also be launched from the territory of Belarus, similar to the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Belarus as a factor
However, according to Syrsky, the leadership in Minsk will no longer agree to further involvement in the conflict. “Given the recent events, I do not think that the Belarusian leadership will decide to use its own territory and give it to the aggressor for the purpose of preparing an offensive operation,” he said. “At the same time, of course, we also take this possibility into account,” admitted the commander of the Ukrainian army.
Syrskyj also pointed out that Russian troops are probably exhausted and the intensity of fighting on the front is decreasing. According to information from Kyiv, the activity of Russian forces at the front dropped by 30 percent.
