Swedish army chief on Ukraine frontline: No war end in sight
Illustrative photo (Getty Images)
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are now in an extremely difficult and challenging position, according to Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces Micael Bydén.
"We are monitoring the situation very closely and talking with our Ukrainian colleagues about the situation on the ground, in particular at NATO meetings. The fighting is still going on in the same areas and on the same front line. It's terrible to see how many people have died and cities are in ruins," he said.
Bydén notes that since the beginning of the offensive, the Russians have not gained much territory.
"There are only small advances, the front line is shifting here and there - in general, the situation is very difficult. The war has been at a standstill for several months now, and there are no changes in sight," he added.
The military officer believes that the West needs to closely monitor Russia and understand that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is now preparing his country for a very long war.
According to him, Russia still has more military potential and forces that "they can use against Ukrainians, which further worsens the situation on the ground."
"Putin has set up the Russian economy for war in a way that we cannot. The Russians are now producing a huge amount of weapons, much more than we can supply to Ukraine," he said.
Bydén believes the war in Ukraine will continue for a long time.
"There is no end in sight to the war, and neither Russia nor Ukraine has enough impact to win it militarily. I expect the war to continue for a very long time. We have already taken this into account in our strategic plans for security and military assistance to Ukraine," he said.
Russia's offensive
In recent days, the Russian troops have intensified their military operations in the Kharkiv sector. Their forces are attempting to break through the line of defense of Ukrainian troops, but suffer significant losses and fail.
Having failed to achieve a breakthrough, Russian troops are trying to expand the battlefront towards the Donetsk region. But they are meeting fierce resistance of Ukrainian soldiers.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian soldiers were successfully repelling enemy attacks in the Kharkiv region and inflicting significant damage on the enemy.
He also noted that the situation at the Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk, and Kurakhove directions remained extremely difficult, but Ukrainian forces were holding the line, preventing the enemy from breaking through.
