Ukraine’s top commander says Russian offensive on Sumy and Kharkiv has ‘already begun’

Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said that President Volodymyr Zelensky was right to warn of a looming Russian offensive in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

“I can say the president is absolutely right — this offensive has, in fact, already begun,” Syrskyi said in an interview with LB.ua, published on April 9. “For several days now, nearly a week, we’ve seen a near doubling in the number of enemy assault operations along all major fronts.”

Zelensky said in March that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia was preparing a new offensive in the Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions. He argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to buy time by prolonging negotiations in order to seize more Ukrainian territory.