The commander of the National Guard, Brigadier General Oleksandr Pivnenko, believes that Russia is currently unable to occupy Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya, and will not be able to achieve a strategic victory. However, the enemy will make unpleasant surprises. He said this in an interview Liga.
Pivnenko believes that the actions of the occupiers now "will not bring such problems that the commanders of the Defence Forces will run in panic and not know what to do." However, the enemy will act in areas that Ukraine does not expect.
"But he will not achieve his goal. Russia will not be able to take either Zaporizhzhya or Kharkiv. Even if they try something in the direction of Kyiv, it will be a demonstration. Although I expect some difficulties. There will be pressure - they will try to move forward wherever they can. We will move the contact lines and units, and deploy reserves. We will practice with artillery and FPV drones," the NGU commander said.
According to him, Ukraine currently has enough reserves to understand that the enemy will not win this year.
"I cannot say that everything will be bad for them. Perhaps they will have some achievements. Perhaps they will be able to achieve 10-15% of their goals," the commander suggested.