Russia wants to launch new attack on Ukraine in 2023 – Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo:Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS)
Russia would like to launch a new large-scale attack on Ukraine next year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with French TV channels TF1 and LCI, broadcast on Dec. 18.
When asked if there were signs that Russia was preparing for a second large-scale offensive in 2023, Zelenskyy answered in the affirmative.
“We understand that they will want this – to take the revanchist path,” Zelenskyy said.
“They constantly want to usurp our state, occupy our state. I think they haven’t abandoned such thoughts yet,” the president said.
Meanwhile, he said this did not mean the Russians were actually capable of carrying out their plans.
“I’m talking about the fact that they have such a desire. I’m sure they do,” Zelenskyy said.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi earlier said that Russia could launch a new offensive in February, “at best in March, at worst – at the end of January.”
Zaluzhnyi said the attack might come not from the Donbas, where fighting is raging at present, but towards Kyiv from the direction of Belarus. Zaluzhnyi also said he does not rule out an attack coming from the south.
Also, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said that the Russian army is preparing conscripts for a new offensive and may attack again in February. He said that the second part of the conscripts, approximately 150,000 people, have begun their training courses in various camps, and that the training will take at least three months.
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