Russia pays for tactical successes with strategic losses — head of Ukrainian Armed Forces Reservists Council

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"The enemy (Russia - ed.) has no strategic successes," said Ivan Tymochko. "Encirclement implies operational success, but even if they advanced 10 km, they would need to show evidence — trophy equipment and a large number of captives. Despite instances where we had to retreat, the invader has failed to provide such evidence for an entire year. While we face serious and critical situations at the front, and unfortunately, our (Ukrainian - ed.) fighters are sometimes captured, we have not seen the Russians taking prisoners in numbers comparable to those we captured in Kursk or other regions.

Ivan Tymochko believes that Russia sacrifices strategic gains for tactical successes, a fact often overlooked. He noted that, as confirmed by British intelligence, Russian forces lost 150,000 troops in the Pokrovsk area alone. For context, Pokrovsk had a civilian population of about 60,000 before the full-scale invasion, meaning Russia's losses were 2.5 times the city's population. Similar situations have occurred in Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and other areas.

“We also have many challenges in improving our defense, but on the other hand, how long will Russia be able to keep this initiative, paying strategic losses. We need to pay attention to this, and formulate our military doctrine based on this. The enemy's offensive is not so much a military challenge for them as a political one,” summarized the head of the Reservists Council.

• On December 22, Ukraine’s General Staff informed that over the previous day, the Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated 1,820 Russian army personnel, as well as a number of Russian vehicles and weapons, including 15 tanks and 32 artillery systems, at the front.
• On December 23, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the number of killed and wounded North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region had already reached 3,000.