The commander of the National Guard of Ukraine Oleksandr Pivnenko said that the Russian forces will be able to continue active offensive actions in all directions for another month and a half, after which they will be forced to go on the defensive, the BBC quoted him as saying.
In an interview with the Ukrainian state news agency "Ukrinform" Pivnenko admitted that now the situation at the front for the Ukrainian armed forces remains difficult.
"Difficult. But the enemy's offensive capabilities are not limitless, but how many losses it suffers... I think that in another month, month and a half - and they will not be able to conduct active attacks in many directions at the same time and will go on the defensive in any case, he said Pivnenko. "And during this time we must form our units and prepare them."
In recent months, the Russian army has continued its advance in most directions, but the fighting in the Donetsk region is the most active. There, the Russian army managed to advance towards the settlements of Chasov Yar (near the city of Konstantinovka) and New York (near Toretsk), as well as in the direction of Pokrovsk.
In addition, the Russian military retook control of the village of Urozhoynoe, which is located near the border with Dnipropetrovsk region (Ukrainian armed forces attacked this area in the summer of 2023, and now Russia is trying to return the few Ukrainian villages liberated by this time).
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimates that Russia is currently mobilizing enough troops to maintain the current pace of operations, but cannot significantly increase the number of troops operating in Ukraine.
At the beginning of May, the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, said that about 510-515 thousand Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine.
"ISW continues to believe that Ukrainian forces can compete for the initiative on the battlefield and subsequently create the conditions for both limited and large-scale counteroffensive operations, subject to timely and appropriate military support from the West," said the American institute in its latest text report.