Putin wants to cut off Ukraine from Black Sea and occupy everything east of Dnipro River - Palisa
Russia plans to occupy the entire territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2026 this year.
This was stated by Colonel Pavlo Palisa, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Censor.NET reports with reference to Politico.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia wants to seize the entire territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the fall of 2025, as well as create a "buffer zone" along the border.
Palisa says Moscow's plans for next year are even more ambitious.
According to him, dictator Putin plans to occupy all of Ukraine east of the Dnipro River.
The Kremlin also wants to occupy Odesa and Mykolaiv, cutting Ukraine off from the Black Sea.
"Unfortunately, they are not talking about peace. They are preparing for war," Palisa emphasized.
At the same time, military analysts predict that Russia will intensify its offensive in the summer, but it will be difficult for it to maintain this pace until 2026. Experts note that there are currently no signs that Russia is going to end its war against Ukraine in the near future.
Officials in the West also say there are no signs that Putin has abandoned his main goals: "to permanently tie Ukraine to Russia and to conclude a grand bargain with the West that would revise the post-Cold War security architecture in Europe."
This is what Russian officials mean when they talk about addressing the "root causes" of the conflict, Politico writes.
