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Mykhailo Podolyak, head of Volodymyr Zelensky’s office and peace negotiator, is confident Putin’s invasion of Ukraine will come to a standstill after the recapture of the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk province. Once that condition is fulfilled, Ukrainian forces will retake the whole country – even territories lost before the February invasion – in only a matter of months, Mr Podolyak said. The West’s continuous supply of weapons will also play a crucial role in the success of the military operations, he added.
From President Zelensky’s office, Mr Podolyak said: “Now, when I talk about when the war might end, the first component is a number of combat vehicles, the number of projectiles.
“The second component is the fall of any of the two cities: Luhansk or Donetsk.
“This will decisively demoralise everything the RF [Russian Federation] has remaining, everything that’s now barely holding on.
“This will all finally collapse.”
“And then, after the fall of Donetsk/Luhansk, I can tell you 3 – 3.5 months and the war will finally end on completely liberated territories of Ukraine within the internationally-recognised borders of 1991.”
After retaking the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian forces are now mounting a successful counter-attack in the two eastern provinces.
Putin unilaterally recognised the Luhansk’s People Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk’s People Republic (DPR) in the days leading up to the war in a bid to justify his invasion.
As part of an apparently premeditated strategy, the Kremlin is now attempting to annex the two Russian-backed republics as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia via “sham” referendums.
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