{"id":8714,"date":"2024-05-11T05:45:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-11T05:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8714"},"modified":"2024-05-11T05:45:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T05:45:46","slug":"ukraine-ground-force-commander-expects-russian-push-ahead-of-arms-supplies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8714","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine ground force commander expects Russian push ahead of arms supplies"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, in an interview published Friday, said he expected the 26-month-old war against Russia to enter a critical phase in the next two months as Moscow tries to exploit delays in supplying weapons to Kyiv.<\/p>\n

“Russia knows that if we receive enough weapons within a month or two, the situation could turn against them,” General Oleskander Pavliuk told The Economist<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

Supplies of U.S. weapons slowed for months while an aid package proposed by President Joe Biden was held up by wrangling in Congress. The measure was passed late last month.<\/p>\n

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine still needed “timely” future supplies of key weapons.<\/p>\n

Pavliuk’s interview preceded Friday’s Russian armored attack into areas of northeastern Kharkiv region.<\/p>\n

The Economist<\/em> said Pavliuk believed Moscow would stay focused on its slow advance through Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east. Ukraine needed more air defense, he said, and would get a boost with the anticipated delivery of F-16 fighter jets.<\/p>\n

Russia, Pavliuk told the magazine, “is testing the stability of our lines before choosing the most suitable direction.”<\/p>\n

Russian forces have taken a string of villages in the east after capturing the town of Avdiivka in February.<\/p>\n

Pavliuk appeared to play down the significance of possibly losing the eastern town of Chasiv Yar, described as a gateway to other cities that Moscow is targeting, like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.<\/p>\n

The loss of Chasiv Yar, he said, would have no “decisive significance” as it was just “a regular urban settlement.”<\/p>\n

Pavliuk also said he believed there should be a renewed focus on Kyiv, from where Russian forces pulled back early in the invasion after initially trying to advance on the capital city.<\/p>\n

“Defending Kyiv remains one of our main concerns, no matter how tough it is in the east,” he told The Economist<\/em>. “It is the heart of Ukraine, and we know the key role defense of the capital will play in the future.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n