Ukrainian commander calls next six months critical for war

A senior Ukrainian commander has described the next six months as a critical window for Ukraine to seize battlefield momentum from an exhausted Russian military, framing it as a potential turning point in the war. Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, who commands Ukraine’s Third Army Corps, made the assessment in an interview from an undisclosed underground location in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Biletsky stated that Russia’s army is exhausted and incapable of making major breakthroughs. He argued that if Ukraine can build and maintain momentum over the coming months, it could gain the initiative along the frontline. This, he said, could pressure Russia to abandon its goal of capturing the remaining Ukrainian-held parts of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. The control of Donetsk has been a major obstacle in stalled, U.S.-backed peace talks, with Russia demanding the entire region and Ukraine refusing to cede territory its forces still hold.

“I believe the next six to nine months are a turning point,” Biletsky said. “More precisely, I think the next six are the most critical.” He added that improving Ukrainian positions to negotiate from strength, rather than weakness,...