Turning point approaching: Presidential Office believes 2024 to be decisive year in war with Russia
Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine (Photo: RBC-Ukraine, Vitalii Nosach)
Andriy Yermak, the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, during a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington, stated the coming year will be decisive in resolving the full-scale war waged by Russia against Ukraine, approaching a turning point.
"A turning point in the war is approaching. The next year will be decisive," noted Yermak.
The head of the President's Office revealed that the counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine is "developing." Ukrainian forces have already consolidated their positions on the left bank of the Kherson region.
He also called on the United States to strengthen sanctions against Russia further and increase military assistance to Ukraine to help strengthen the country's air defense ahead of winter.
On the stage of the war in Ukraine
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is at the final stage of the war, which could be the most challenging. However, military experts differ in their opinions on the actual stage of the war in Ukraine.
According to Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military and political expert at the Information Resistance group, this is not the last stage of the war, but only its middle.
"It may sound a bit cynical, but I look at the war mathematically. I look at the bridgeheads, the number of troops, the capabilities, and the ratio of forces and means. And, in my opinion, the hardest part of the war is yet to come. This is not the hardest part yet. We are somewhere in the middle at best," he explained.
Kovalenko suggested that the most challenging part of the war will likely occur when the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberate the left bank of the Kherson region and the Zaporizhzhia region.
"And then they will be on the front line with Donetsk and Luhansk regions. And we will decide on the further course of action regarding the temporarily occupied Crimea. That's where the hardest part will begin. For now, we are in the middle. That's my personal opinion," concluded the expert.
Zelenskyy has also stated that the terms for ending the war in Ukraine depend on the speed of supply and the quantity of air defense systems.
