Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of Ukraine since February 2024 in a post in his Telegram channel said that it is too early to say that the turning point has occurred in Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In his post Syrskyi pointed out that although the Ukrainian defenders managed to significantly slow down the advance of the Russians, the enemy should not be underestimated.

He said that Moscow did not abandon its plans to completely occupy the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, at the same time aiming to expand their operations in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Another of aggressor’s plans is the one to established what it calls a “buffer zone” in the northern territories of Ukraine bordering Russia (Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions).

This happens in the backdrop of mutual aerial attacks both sides are conducting against each other with different weaponry such as rockets and drones. In recent weeks Russia attacked Ukrainian cities away from the frontline several times, including ruinous attacks on the capital city of Kyiv, causing numerous civilian deaths and injuries as well as damaging local infrastructure.

In response to these attacks Ukraine launched an aerial campaign of its own, targeting Russian energy industry. Almost every oil refinery as well as numerous depots, terminals etc. was attacked by drones and rockets, causing a fuel crisis in Russia. This urged Moscow to introduce limits for consumers, as well as on oil export, at the same time trying to make up for it by importing fuel.

At the recent NATO summit in Ankara President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky asked the Alliance members for more military aid to his country, including critical missiles for Patriot anti air defence systems, without which Kyiv and other cities remain defenceless against Russian ballistic missiles.