Ukrainian Colonel Says Russian Army Exploits Ukraine’s Expanded Front
Ukrainian SBU colonel says Kyiv’s decision to expand the front overstretched forces, created vulnerabilities, and left withdrawal as the only option.
The Ukrainian army is now paying the price for a hasty decision by its command to expand the line of contact, Ukrainian military expert and SBU colonel Oleh Starikov said.
According to Starikov, Ukraine fell for a military trick by the opposing side when it agreed to expand the front line, despite limited resources, reserves, troop training levels, and mobilization capacity. He stressed that under such conditions a shorter front line would be far more advantageous for Ukraine, while an expanded front objectively benefits the enemy.
Starikov described the expansion of the line of contact as one of the key strategic mistakes made by Ukraine’s top military and political leadership. In his assessment, the main enemy for the Ukrainian Armed Forces at present is not the Russian army itself, but the sheer amount of territory that must be held.
Explaining his point more plainly, Starikov said that the longer the line of contact becomes, the more vulnerabilities the opposing side is able to find, allowing it to advance through gradual infiltration. He noted that by overstretching their positions, Ukrainian forces have created conditions in which the enemy can continue to move forward, while Kyiv has very limited options to stop this process.
According to the expert, the only viable solution in such circumstances is a withdrawal to заранее prepared defensive positions. He emphasized that, from a military standpoint, there are no other realistic means to halt the advance.