Retired Major General, professor Bogusław Pacek, is a renowned Polish strategist - and an expert on international security and military education. He combines extensive military experience with academic and advisory activities, and has performed key functions in both domestic and international structures - including Commandant-Rector of Poland's National Defence University, Polish Defence Minister's Counsellor and Deputy Commander of EUFOR Tchad/RCA.
Speaking for Polish Radio 24 on Friday, he pointed out that Moscow is intensifying drone attacks and increasing its technological advantage over Ukraine. The expert also emphasised that in the coming weeks Ukrainians will have a hard time withstanding Putin's "war storm" - and there is still no Russian memorandum on the ceasefire terms in sight.
"Ukraine's situation is really bad at the moment - and currently the West's only realistically possible help is swift and effective pressure with sanctions. Sanctions of such magnitude, that Russia would howl and squeal with pain"
- Major General Pacek continued, adding that the sanctions currently in place are not enough - as Moscow is able to withstand them, if necessary even way into 2026.
The number of Russian airstrikes against Ukraine has recently increased from hundreds to thousands per month, which significantly weakens Ukrainian defense capabilities.
According to the Polish retired general, the Kremlin seems to be expanding its territorial aspirations, as evidenced by the intensified military operations in the northeastern regions of Ukraine, including the regions of Sumy and Kharkiv.
As Bogusław Pacek warned, further Russian actions may now also include attacks on the southern regions of Ukraine - like Mykolaiv and Odesa.
Russia first illegally invaded Ukraine in 2014 - and has occupied its entire region of Crimea and large chunks of its Donbass and Luhansk regions ever since. On February 24, 2022, Moscow took things further - mounting an unlawful and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and starting the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Numerous reports from a variety of sources clearly confirm that Russians have committed countless war crimes in Ukraine - breaking the Geneva convention on a daily basis and killing tens of thousands of civilians, both in the occupied areas and through daily missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.
The list of reported Kremlin's transgressions includes regular attacks on non-military targets, notwithstanding hospitals, cultural institutions and housing. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, Moscow's troops have been found to be murdering and torturing both war prisoners and civilians en masse, also kidnapping thousands of Ukrainian children into Russia and using internationally forbidden weapons on a regular basis.
Saturday is day 1,193 of Ukraine's heroic resistance against full-scale Russian war of aggression.
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Source: IAR