Russia intensifies offensive to counter incoming Western F‑16s

- Russian forces, fearing the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine, including F-16 aircraft, are desperately trying to expand their military actions to prevent Ukrainian troops from moving to the offensive, announced the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.

"The enemy fully understands that as we gradually receive a significant amount of weapons and military equipment from our partners and the arrival of the first F-16s, which will strengthen our air defence, time will play in our favour, and their chances of success will decrease," Syrskyi wrote on Facebook on Monday at 11:00 AM EST.

For this reason, he explained, Russian command seeks to expand the geography of military actions on the fronts in Ukraine, aiming to "maximize the exhaustion" of the Ukrainian army, disrupt the training of reserves, and ultimately "prevent a transition to active offensive operations."

Syrskyi reported that he had been visiting units in eastern Ukraine for almost a week, defending the front's most critical sections. In his opinion, the nature of the enemy's actions has not significantly changed.

"In the operational areas of Kupiansk, Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, and Vremivka, the enemy conducts active offensive actions of varying intensity, trying to break through our forces' defences and capture important areas or settlements that affect the stability of our defence," he conveyed.

However, the main efforts of the Russians are concentrated in the Pokrovsk section, where they have gathered the vast majority of brigades and assault regiments. "Fierce battles are ongoing in the areas of Hlyboke, Chasiv Yar, Staromaiorske, Robotyne, Krynky, and on the islands in the coastal part of the left bank of the Dnipro," he wrote.

According to the general, along the entire front line, which stretches from areas north of Kharkiv in northern Ukraine to Krynky in the Kherson region in the south, "our soldiers are showing resilience, courage, and patriotism, and most importantly, faith in our victory," he emphasized.