Kremlin underestimated Ukrainian resistance level: Austrian general names main Russia’s mistakes during invasion of Ukraine

Kremlin was sure that the resistance during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine would be so weak that it would be possible to quickly take the entire country under their control. However, Putin underestimated the readiness of the Ukrainian people to resist and the resilience of the Ukrainian army.

Walter Feichtinger, a retired brigadier general of the Austrian army and currently president of the Center for Strategic Analysis (CSA), said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to him, Russia made many mistakes during two years of full-scale war.

"In general, it was a time of many mistakes, especially on the Russian side — they completely underestimated Ukraine's will to resist and the resilience of the Ukrainian military," Feichtinger said.

The general noted that he never considered the Defense Forces of Ukraine weak and was sure that Kyiv would not surrender and would resist.

"I have seen how the struggle in Donbas is going, and I have seen how professionally and intensely the Ukrainian troops carry out their tasks. That is why I did not think Ukraine would surrender very quickly in terms of the military, which was later confirmed," emphasized Feichtinger.

The military expert believes that the decisive factor in stopping the Russian invasion at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine was that the Russians failed to land an airborne assault north of Kyiv and launch an attack on the capital from there.

"Therefore, it is certainly a great credit to the Ukrainian Armed Forces that they recognized this and prevented it. After that, the Russian master plan was doomed to failure," he said.

What is known about the upcoming offensive of the Russian army

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Uktraine's defense ministry, announced a tough period for Ukraine and gave a new forecast of the development of events. He specified that a rather difficult situation awaits Ukraine from the middle of May to the beginning of June. However, according to him, it will not be catastrophic.

In his turn, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced the aggravation of the situation at the front and Russia's attempt to seize the strategic initiative.

It is worth adding that the Russian occupation forces may increase their attacks by taking advantage of the time needed to deliver new security assistance to Ukraine from the United States of America.

However, experts of the Institute for the Study of War believe that the withdrawal of the Defense Forces from the positions of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka does not help the Russians to quickly achieve tactical success, and the Russians are unlikely to achieve a deeper operationally significant penetration in this area soon.

In addition, for future offensives near Avdiivka, Russian forces can choose between several tactical directions, but it remains unclear where they will focus their efforts.