Next few weeks of war in Ukraine will be critical - CNN
The war in Ukraine, which for several months seemed slow and painful, exploded again with the approach of winter. The conflict teeters on the way to an unpredictable new phase.
This is the opinion of experts interviewed by the CNN channel, Censor.NET reports with reference to UNIAN.
"This is already the third, fourth, maybe fifth war that we are watching," said Keir Giles, a senior researcher at the Chatham House program on Russia and Eurasia.
The onslaught of Russian missiles was followed by steady successes of the AFU and a powerful explosion on the Crimean Bridge. He hit the psyche of the Russians and gave Ukraine a significant strategic boost, experts say.
With the cold months approaching, which are likely to slow ground fighting, the next few weeks of the war will be crucial, they said. And the Russians will try to avoid a collapse on their front line before the onset of winter.
"What seemed like a distant prospect of anything that could be convincingly called a victory for Ukraine has now become much more plausible," Giles said.
Experts suggest that against the background of recent events, "Russia's reaction will probably intensify even more."
Thus, on Thursday, October 13, Russia announced that they are beginning to evacuate residents of occupied Kherson, as Ukraine is making great progress in the region.
Analysts concluded that the successful offensive of the AFU changed the course of the war and disproved the assumption put forward last summer in the West and Russia that, although Ukraine can firmly defend the territory, it does not have the ability to seize it.
"The Russians are playing the whistle - (hoping) to avoid a collapse on their front line before winter arrives," Samir Puri, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and author of "Russia's Road to War with Ukraine," told CNN.
"If they can hold out until Christmas and the front line looks roughly as it is, it will be a huge success for the Russians, given how badly it has been since February 2022," the experts said.
