LONDON, December 15. /TASS/. The partial mobilization in Russia allowed Russia to slow down the Ukrainian counteroffensive near Kremennaya and Svatovo, LPR, Ukrainian supreme commander General Valery Zaluzhny said in an interview for The Economist.
"Russian mobilization has worked," Zaluzhny said. Ukrainian ground forces commander Alexander Syrsky agrees.
"They have very great potential in terms of manpower," Syrsky said, adding that the mobilized forces slowed down the Ukrainian counteroffensive at Kremennaya and Svatovo. According to Syrsky, the mobilization allowed Russia to rotate forces more often, allocating more time for recreation and recovery. "In this regard, they have an advantage."
Speaking about new mobilization wave in Ukraine, Syrsky said that, currently, there are over 700,000 Ukrainians fighting in one way or another, with 200,000 getting ready to take part in combat. In this regard, he pointed the lack of ammunition, first and foremost.
"Therefore, everything really depends on the amount of supplies, and this determines the success of the battle in many cases," he said.
In this regard, Zaluzhny once again called to ship weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. The chief commander underscored that Kiev is currently unable to carry out "new big operations," even though it is working on one such operation right now.
Zaluzhny and Syrsky believe that the outcome of hostilities will depend on the development of the situation in the upcoming months. The armed forces commander noted that Ukraine is considering an offensive on Melitopol, Zaporozhye Region, as one option, in order to use HIMARS rocket systems to disrupt supplies to the Russian forces group through Crimea.