Russia may be able to sustain intensity of its offensive for another one to two years – Pivnenko

Oleksandr Pivnenko says Russia may be able to sustain the intensity of its offensive for another one to two years. However, it lacks the capacity to form significant reserves for large-scale offensive operations, particularly in northern Ukraine.

According to Ukrinform, Pivnenko made this statement in an interview with the outlet "LB."

"As for manpower, they can sustain this intensity for another one or two years even with such losses. They have a large mobilization resource, plus a dictatorship that can provide people for the offensive if needed. At the same time, their level of losses should not be underestimated," he said.

According to Pivnenko, Russian forces are unable to create sufficient reserves to, for example, launch a major northern offensive toward Kyiv and decisively resolve the situation.

"There are not even such plans, because their resources are not unlimited and the intensity of the war is extremely high," he explained.

Read also: Commander of National Guard does not believe in potential offensive from Belarus

He added that currently the enemy aims to capture Pokrovsk and finish off Kostiantynivka, while taking Sloviansk and Kramatorsk is not a matter of even two or three years.

At the same time, when asked what Ukraine should do in this situation, Pivnenko said the country will build such a level of defense and "kill zone" density that the war will lose any meaning for Russian forces—bringing them no results other than losses.

"We have shown that we will fight for our land, and the Russians understand this. Now they face a dilemma of how to exit this war. If they withdraw, they will face many internal problems," he emphasized.

He is convinced that the aggressors miscalculated by believing Ukrainians would surrender.

"They wanted to turn us into slaves. That will not happen. That is why they are so angry at us. That is why they strike civilian cities. Why are they destroying Kharkiv? It did not break, even though they reached the outskirts at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Our guys stopped tank columns back then—and they did," Pivnenko said.

The commander stressed that Ukrainian troops, including special operations units, made a significant contribution to defending the city and the country as a whole.

As Ukrinform previously reported, the era when sheer troop numbers determined outcomes at the front has passed, and if Russia resorts to large-scale mobilization, Ukraine will prepare the necessary resources and continue to rely heavily on drones.