There is every reason to believe that the duration of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia on the territory of Ukraine will cross the calendar borders of 2022, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny said in an article for Ukrinform, which he wrote together with the first deputy of the Defense Committee of the Rada Mikhail Zabrodsky.

“In no way does the conflict fit into the framework of the announced Russian “blitzkrieg” or the duration of the active phases of hostilities in the wars of the early 21st century.. In any case, the duration of the war is already measured in months. And there is every reason to believe that this temporary account will cross the calendar boundaries of 2022,” the article says..

According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, some operational prospects for the enemy are visible in the Izyum and Bakhmut directions. The likely ultimate goal of such actions may be to reach the administrative border of the Donetsk region. The prospect of advancing in the Zaporozhye direction may look even more attractive to the enemy.. It ensures further actions to the north and the creation of a direct threat to the capture of Zaporozhye and the Dnieper, which will lead to the loss of control by the Ukrainian side over a significant part of Left-Bank Ukraine. The return to the plan of capturing Kyiv and the threat of a re-deployment of hostilities from the territory of Belarus are not excluded from the agenda..

“But further advancement in the Yuzhnobuzh direction along the operational bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper River opens up more opportunities.. Success in the South, if used quickly and correctly, can have a double effect.. On the one hand, the prospects for capturing Nikolaev and Odessa are quite real.. On the other hand, the creation of a threatening direction towards Krivoy Rog, and in the future, a threat to the central and western regions of Ukraine,” explains the head of the Ukrainian army..

According to him, in addition to purely military, such a nature of strategic actions in the east and south of Ukraine will bring additional political and economic dividends to the Russian Federation.. Among them - ensuring the security of the self-proclaimed republics and the logical, albeit belated completion of the so-called "

At the same time, Zaluzhny stressed the problems Russia faces because of its manifestations of aggression: international isolation, economic pressure in the form of international sanctions, difficulties with general mobilization and a lack of modern weapons and equipment, which will only become more acute over time..

However, the Commander-in-Chief does not exclude the potential success of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during 2023, which may give chances for an early end to the war..

[see_also ids\u003d"

Six months of war is long enough to separate friends from enemies.. Providing real assistance from those who only use the situation for their domestic political or geopolitical purposes. Making statements of commitment to the world is not the same as bringing it closer. Read more about the future developments in the war in the article by Sergei Korsunsky "