General Walter Feichtinger, an Austrian expert on military-political issues, answered DW's questions about the reality of statements about the imminent liberation of the occupied territories of Ukraine, the threat of a second attack by Russian invaders on Kyiv and further developments on the fronts..

“I see no real chances [for the liberation of the occupied territories] in the next few weeks or maybe even months,” he admitted with regret..

From the point of view of the Austrian general, the alignment of forces on the fronts is as follows:.

“At present, Russia clearly has the advantage, which is trying to seize territory northwest of Luhansk, and Ukrainian forces are holding the line.”.

According to him, north of Kharkov, Ukraine already has an advantage, pushing Russian troops to some extent to the border.. In southwestern Ukraine, near Kherson, Ukrainian forces also appear to have made at least local gains..

“But this does not change the overall picture,” stated Walter Feichtinger.

“Russia has already captured 20 percent of the area of \u200b\u200bUkraine. Ukraine is struggling to retake territories and is turning to Western states, especially the United States and Germany, on an almost daily basis, asking them to provide them with modern military equipment to repel a possible large-scale attack from the Russian side or launch a counteroffensive.. It is possible that in the next few weeks the front may stabilize and both sides will use the subsequent phase to prepare either for an attack or for defense, ”he believes.

The expert also drew attention to the fact that the Russian occupiers are beginning to create defensive structures on the border of the conquered territories..

“This suggests that in the second stage, Russia will for the time being be content with holding the occupied territories, their military protection and Russification, including, for example, the distribution of Russian passports or the introduction of Russian as an official language,” he said..

When asked by DW how real the threat of a second assault on Kyiv by Russian invaders is, the military expert said the following:.

Now there are no signs that Russian troops intend to attack Kyiv and try to capture it.. Russia uses missiles to bomb individual targets in the Ukrainian capital. But this is not a big attack, but a demonstration that it is possible to influence Kyiv without capturing it.. Rocket attacks on urban areas are, of course, extremely painful for the capital.. But its capture by Russian troops is completely unrealistic - Russia simply does not have the strength for this..

[see_also ids\u003d"

On June 15, during a press conference following the meeting of the leaders of the seven NATO countries that preceded the meeting of the Ramstein 3 contact group, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated the following:.

" Since we cannot have a direct confrontation with NATO aircraft or troops against the Russian Federation, we must ensure that Ukraine can fight this war, that it has access to all the necessary weapons. There we did with Germany a few weeks ago - we are training Ukrainians on Panzerhaubitze 2000 systems, and we intend to deliver 12 units to Ukraine from Germany and the Netherlands as soon as possible"

As reported, the United States of America is going to send an additional batch of multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine. The recently sent four modern HIMARS MLRS are only the "