Post #15977

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Bloomberg: Ukraine believes Russia could break through its defences by summer ▪ Ukrainian officials are concerned that the Russian offensive could gain serious momentum by summer if their allies fail to increase ammunition supplies. Internal assessments of the situation on the battlefield from Kiev are becoming increasingly grim. ▪ Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyy said today that mistakes by frontline commanders have exacerbated the problems facing Ukraine in Avdiivka. Syrskyy said he had sent additional troops and ammunition to reinforce Ukrainian positions. ▪ Pessimism among Ukraine and its allies has been growing for weeks, with the fall of Avdiivka and several nearby villages adding to fears that Kiev's defences may not hold. ▪ These losses should be a wake-up call to Ukraine's allies, a European official said. "Ukraine could start losing as early as this year," said Michael Kofman, a specialist on Russia and Ukraine at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ▪ The source said Ukrainian intelligence estimates that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his original goal of seizing major cities, including Kiev and Odessa. If Russian troops reach Odessa, they could cut off Ukraine's most important grain export routes across the Black Sea and also open access to Moldova, where the breakaway region of Transnistria on Wednesday appealed to Moscow for political support. ▪ According to a person close to Ukraine's leadership, depending on the outcome of the current campaign, Russia will decide whether to continue a slow, point-by-point offensive or accumulate resources for a larger strike to break through Ukrainian lines this summer. ▪ During his address to the Federal Assembly today, Putin reiterated that he still plans to achieve the goals set at the beginning of the conflict, which have remained unchanged since 2022. Access to discussion Subscribe to the channel