Putin won’t stop: military expert discusses frontline expansion risks

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

“The territory of Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions is the area of active hostilities. Although border clashes mostly take place in Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the Russian invaders are actively using aviation to shell our border. Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups are constantly operating there. This factor, of course, must be taken into account when assessing the scale of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation,” Seleznov noted.

According to him, the invading Russian army is trying to implement part of Putin's plan to create so-called "buffer zones" in Ukraine. They are looking for weaknesses in the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and are trying to attack. Accordingly, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are working towards active counteraction. 

“Our units are also trying to enter the territory of the Russian Federation: Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions. This border area is a zone of continuous combat operations, even at the tactical level, but, nevertheless, the fighting continues. We are also looking for the enemy's weaknesses, because the war must be transferred to the territory of the enemy country so that Putin feels that the war he unleashed in February 2014 is being scaled up, crossing the state border between Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” Seleznov said.

Further developments are obvious: everything depends on resources, says the military expert.

“There are reports that Russian forces are actively redeploying troops and equipment to the southern part of the Zaporizhzhia region. This comes as no surprise, given that under the revised Russian Constitution, the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions are claimed as part of the Russian Federation. Putin is prepared to pursue two paths — either to seize these territories fully through diplomatic negotiations or by military force. But it is absolutely clear that he will not stop attacking Ukrainian positions along the entire 1,350-kilometer front line. Moreover, administrative boundaries — such as the one between Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions — will not deter Russian forces. The only truly effective deterrent is the strength of Ukrainian weaponry capable of halting their advance,” he summarized.

• The Russian occupying forces lost 1,180 soldiers over the past day. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s Defense Forces have eliminated more than 935,000 Russian troops.