The reserve of the Russian army is 1.2-1.5 million people. Currently, the Russians are training about 200,000 new soldiers. It is likely that Russia will launch a major new offensive from Donbas in the east, from the south or from Belarus, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, has said in an interview with The Economist.
"Russian mobilisation has worked. It is not true that their problems are so dire that these people will not fight. They will. A tsar tells them to go to war, and they go to war. I’ve studied the history of the two Chechen wars—it was the same. They may not be that well equipped, but they still present a problem for us," he said.
"I have no doubt they will have another go at Kyiv," he added.
A new offensive may take place in February, at best in March, and at worst at the end of January. It may start not in Donbas, but in the direction of Kyiv, in the direction of Belarus, Zaluzhnyy said, adding that he does not rule out the southern direction as well.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's generals are pushing ahead with the training and deployment of newly mobilized troops and re-equipping industry to help the military, including, Ukrainian commanders say, by producing artillery shells.
Zaluzhnyy said that freezing the war would repeat the mistake of the three years that preceded the 24 February 2022 invasion: "During this time, Putin talked endlessly with Western leaders who indulged him, while at the same time preparing the army for the invasion."
Earlier, Zaluzhnyy said that now the situation in Donbas is not easy, but for the Russian army it is a no-win. Russians are probably looking for ways to get a pause in the fighting by any means.