Russian oligarch and dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile, made a gloomy forecast for the future of Ukraine, Hamburger Abendblatt reported.
During a congress in Berlin, the Russian oligarch said that he expects Ukraine to lose the city of Kharkiv by the end of the year, and Odessa in the next year 2025. A guerrilla war will be fought in the middle of 2026, said Khodorkovsky.
According to him, the only way to prevent this is in the hands of the Western countries, which should massively support Kiev in the fight against the Russian aggressor.
Military analysts point out that Ukraine has made two major lapses in recent months. The first is the reluctance of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's government to mobilize more troops. The second loophole does not depend on Kiev and is related to the long-blocked military aid in the US Congress.
On this background, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced yesterday “tangible results” against the Russian army in Kharkiv region. Russia launched a surprise offensive in the northeastern Ukrainian region on May 10, opening a new front in the war. After the initial rapid advance, the Russian army's advance has slowed, but according to the US think tank Institute for the Study of War, the aim of the operation is to create a buffer zone along the border rather than to go deep into Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine has known for months that Russia will respond with a new front. However, according to some analysts, Ukrainian forces have been slow to build defensive lines, and the refusal of mass mobilization has also been cited as an important factor in the initial advance of the Russian army of occupation.