Warfare in 2025 will be battle of economies: victory hinges on endurance

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"The war in 2025, like this (Russian-Ukrainian - ed.) entire war, is a war of economies, a war of attrition. Whoever endures this exhaustion longer will emerge victorious. Sorry, but that's the truth. In this situation, Ukraine is not acting as a sovereign entity but as an associated representative of the civilized world. Even when we look at Ukraine's 2025 budget and see 1.6 trillion UAH in macroeconomic assistance, it's clear that such figures could not possibly originate from the Ukrainian economy itself," the economist commented.

According to him, in terms of prospects, Russia might find ways to tap into internal economic reserves, but it faces significant challenges in doing so. For Ukraine, the key factors are the capability and willingness of its partners to continue providing support, both macroeconomic and military-technical.

"There are clear signs that Russia's economic resources may run out by the end of next year. Even Russian economic forums are beginning to acknowledge that their resources, particularly human resources, are depleting. For instance, in 2022, Russia paid 400,000 rubles to contract soldiers, but now it’s 3 million rubles, and yet the number of Russian mercenaries has dropped by a third. This is a clear example of resource exhaustion," noted Oleh Pendzin.

• On December 7, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is pushing to allocate all remaining funds to support Ukraine before his term ends on January 20.
• On Saturday, December 7, the United States announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine totaling $988 million.