Ukraine plans to reorganize its troops and launch a new counteroffensive this year, the commander of the ground forces has said.
Speaking to ICTV on Wednesday, Lieutenant General Aleksandr Pavlyuk said the most pressing goal is to stop Russian advances and to regroup Ukrainian units, so that exhausted forces can be pulled back from the front line and replenished. It would then allow Kiev to “create a strike group and carry out counter-strike actions.”
“I think we will stabilize the situation shortly,” Pavlyuk said, adding that the command is trying to “do everything possible to prepare the troops for more active actions, and to seize the initiative.”
The Ukrainian army has been losing ground in the Donbass, where Russian forces seized the heavily fortified city of Avdeevka last month. The loss occurred amid Kiev’s worsening ammunition shortage and delays in deliveries of Western military aid.