Russia is preparing for a long war in Ukraine and still wants to conquer the entire country, a senior Ukrainian military official said today. Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov told a military briefing that although he does not expect Moscow to launch an attack from Belarus, Russia is training new troops on the territory of its neighboring country and has moved military aircraft there.
Deputy Defense Minister Hana Malyar warned, in the same briefing, that there should be no easing following recent Russian military retreats.
The Kremlin is seeking to turn the conflict into a protracted armed confrontation, Gromov said.
Malyar added: We and the world should not relax, because the ultimate goal of the Russian Federation is to conquer all of Ukraine, and then it can go further.
Gromov did not say who the Kremlin's target might be with the prolongation of the war that has already lasted almost ten months.
Ukrainian officials have suggested that the Kremlin is desperately seeking to undo the military concessions it has recently suffered, including a retreat from the southern city of Kherson after months of occupation, and to score victories to justify the war to the Russian public.
The Kremlin has never fully clarified the aims of its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which it said was partly intended to protect Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.
[BR][BR]It said last week that it is still securing at least most of the parts of eastern and southern Ukraine it has declared as its own, but appears to be abandoning its occupation of other areas in the west and northeast that Ukraine has retaken.
No ceasefire
Ukraine's chief of general staff said that Moscow's main focus now is on the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, but that Russian forces are shelling Kherson daily and trying to gain more foothold in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya.
They understand that if they don't extend the front now, then this winter will be a disaster for them, said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office.
Russia, which is also attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure, has ruled out the possibility of a Christmas ceasefire.[/B] Gromov also rejected the possibility of a ceasefire during the New Year's holiday season.
There will be a comprehensive ceasefire only when not a single occupier remains on our land, he said.
Gromov said Russia has been strengthening its military presence in Belarus since mid-October, where it is training new units and restoring the combat capability of old units, and that it has moved military aircraft to the territory of its ally.
This first of all shows that the enemy is strengthening its capabilities to carry out air strikes on Ukrainian territory, he said, but added that the probability of a Russian attack from Belarus remains low.
Source: APM
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