Turning point at front will lay basis for war development until end of 2023 - Candidate of Political Sciences Zhovtenko

This was stated by Taras Zhovtenko, PhD in Political Science, member of the Public Council at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, international security expert at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, on Espreso.

According to him, first of all, we should not be too optimistic about the end of the war after the turning point. The breakthrough will not mean a direct victory for Ukraine.

"This is the basis from which we will start moving towards our victory. From a military and political point of view, this phase of hostilities, the offensive operation on the Ukrainian side and the attempt to form strike groups and advance on the Russian side is one of the most important moments for Russia. They have accumulated military equipment and human resources to meet this challenge. The longer it goes on, the harder it will be to accumulate manpower, equipment, and ammunition over the next months of the war. The critical mass that Russia has accumulated at this point is the best it is capable of this year," he said.

The expert added that if Ukraine deprives Russia of these resources, it will be much more difficult to recruit them in the future, and this will make the war as difficult as possible for Russia. This will ensure that Ukraine will build on its success on the battlefield and advance further.

"The turning point will set the trajectory of the war at least until the end of 2023. If we manage to keep the initiative and break the resources that Russia has today, this opens up the possibility of successful active hostilities until the end of 2023, and then everything will depend on whether the Russian front will collapse. This will open the way for us to gradually move towards the 1991 borders," emphasized Taras Zhovtenko.

• On February 27, the head of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said that to turn the tide in the war, Ukraine needs more weapons, including attack aircraft.