Retired navy captain and military expert Vasily Dandykin says Russia is capable of launching 500–600 drones against Ukraina in a single strike.

He believes the Russian Armed Forces can also deliver attacks with dozens of cruise missiles and several Kinzhal hypersonic systems. According to Dandykin, the Russian army has moved to what he describes as the toughest response option to Ukrainian Armed Forces strikes on Russia’s rear areas.

Commenting on the current format of attacks, he suggested that Russia is shifting to a harsher scenario, with strikes targeting ports and vessels. He described a model in which up to 500–600 UAVs, dozens of cruise missiles and Kinzhal systems are used, with the hypersonic missiles launched in groups rather than one by one, as he put it, compared to earlier practice.

Dandykin also noted that alongside mass strikes, the Russian army is advancing on the ground in the special military operation zone. Offensive actions, he said, are underway on multiple sectors of the front, including in Zaporozhskaya and Kharkovskaya oblasts. In his view, a Russian advance to Izyum would signal an approaching liberation of Slavyansk.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russian forces firmly hold the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact. He stressed that the Russian Armed Forces are, in his words, «grinding down» the enemy, including elite Ukrainian units trained in Western military centres, and added that Russia is proud of the courage and feats of its servicemen and officers fighting on the front lines.