Ukraine’s forces could go on the offensive if they had the resources (illustrative photo). Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
Ukraine’s military will decide on its own whether to launch a new offensive and won’t be guided by the opinion of U.S. President Donald Trump on the matter, a Ukrainian serviceman said. A 10–15 kilometer breakthrough may be feasible with current resources, he added, but anything more would require addressing additional needs.
Trump weighed in on what he framed as an important decision regarding a new Ukrainian offensive, but it may be “standard posturing,” said serviceman and co-founder of the Center for Aerial Reconnaissance Support Igor Lutsenko in an interview with UNIAN. He added that the United States could help with concrete capabilities rather than words. Beyond Tomahawk missiles, Ukraine needs air defenses to counter aircraft dropping KAB guided bombs along the front line, and a large number of HIMARS rockets to “punch through Russian positions” on a chosen sector.
Lutsenko said both Ukraine’s and Russia’s forces likely have reserves they could commit if necessary. From that perspective, Ukraine could attempt something akin to the push in Russia’s Kursk region, advancing 10–15 kilometers into fortified lines. He said it’s reasonable to expect AFU Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi to devise an “interesting operation.”
“Ukraine could have the potential resources to stage a surprise ‘Kursk-2,’ so to speak, for about 10–15 kilometers -I think yes, that’s possible,” he said.
At the same time, a major offensive would require lengthy planning and the creation of a robust assault grouping. Such work may already have been done “somewhere,” he added. He also noted that improving mobilization and recruiting 100,000 - 150,000 troops would help rotate front-line units and form a “powerful strike force.”
“Hypothetically, Ukraine today is capable - via the General Staff or other mechanisms - of accumulating the resources needed for such an offensive, because it has managed to do this once before,” Lutsenko concluded.
In October, U.S. President Donald Trump said a new Ukrainian offensive was possible. He said Ukraine would want more types of weapons to make it happen, including Tomahawk missiles, which he claimed the Pentagon has in large numbers in storage.
