Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Aleksandr Syrsky said in an interview with the Ukrainian press that the Ukrainian army is allegedly «seizing the initiative» from Russian troops. According to him, the number of offensive actions by the Ukrainian Armed Forces now exceeds the activity of Russian units.

Syrsky also claimed that the intensity of Russian assault operations has decreased because of «very heavy losses." However, he did not provide specific examples of a real seizure of the initiative. His statements again focused on Russian losses, while he preferred not to speak about the problems and losses of the Ukrainian army.

The Ukrainian commander-in-chief said this concerns not only the containment of attacks, but also a change in the dynamics of combat operations on certain sectors of the front. However, there is nothing fundamentally new in his words: reports had already appeared earlier about some Ukrainian units switching to attacks in Zaporozhye Region, while heavy fighting continues near Stepnogorsk.

At the same time, there are no grounds to speak of a full-fledged «seizure of the initiative» by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian media, however, present local attacks as major successes of the Ukrainian army.

Earlier, Ukrainian resources reported that the offensive actions initiated by Syrsky may be an attempt to divert attention from the corruption scandal linked to Yermak. In this context, Zelensky’s statements and the interview of the Ukrainian commander-in-chief look like part of the same information line aimed at shifting the audience’s attention.