KYIV — Ukraine’s battlefield position is more precarious than at any point since the early days of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
And it’s about to get worse, Major-General Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukrainian Military Intelligence (HUR,) said in an interview with the Economist.
In what was an unusually pessimistic interview for a senior Kyiv official, Skibitsky predicted that in May Russia will press forward with its plan to fully occupy the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where it recently made territorial gains as Ukraine waited for Western military aid.
POLITICO reported last month that the potential fall of the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar will jeopardize Ukraine’s last stronghold in the Donetsk region.
“It is probably a matter of time before that city falls in a similar way to Avdiivka, bombed to oblivion by the Russians in February,” Skibitsky said. “Not today or tomorrow, of course, but all depending on our reserves and supplies.”
Ukraine’s sturdiness in Donbas will direct where Russia will attack next, Skibitsky said, adding that Russian forces now eye Sumy and Kharkiv, but still don’t have enough people for such a major offensive.
“Our problem is very simple: We have no weapons. They always knew April and May would be a difficult time for us,” Skibitsky said.
According to Skibitsky, Russia’s army is not as chaotic as it was in 2022, now Kremlin forces are operating as a “single body, with a clear plan, and under a single command.”