Sergey Markov. Photo: Wikipedia.org .
Russian political analyst Sergei Markov wrote in his Telegram channel that the completion of the partial mobilization task, which Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin today, means that Russian troops will launch a powerful offensive in Ukraine. He also called the expected timing of the start of active hostilities and what their outcome might be.
Markov noted that it is known from open sources that the number of the Russian group together with the DPR and LPR is 150 thousand in the SVO zone now, and the front-line group of Ukraine has about 300 thousand. The expert made a reservation that these are very approximate figures that reflect only his opinion.
According to him, now Russian servicemen called up as part of partial mobilization are still in training. But by mid-November they will arrive in the troops. Then the Russian grouping in the zone of its own will increase to 430 thousand people. “This is plus 300 thousand and minus 20 thousand, who will go on vacation on rotation,” Markov explained.
“That is, the Russian army will be almost 1.5 times larger than the Ukrainian army. This will enable the Russian army to finally attack in November and winter,” the expert believes.
Markov added that if the offensive is very successful, then the fighting may end altogether.
“Westerners will resort to negotiations only after a powerful offensive by the Russian army and the threat of the defeat of the Kiev regime,” he summed up.
Earlier, a military expert, captain of the 1st rank in reserve Vasily Dandykin, in a conversation with MK, did not rule out a campaign to Odessa.