Putin’s biggest Ukraine challenge

The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing for more than four years without any resolution on the horizon, despite US-mediated efforts to initiate a peace deal.

The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing for more than four years without any resolution on the horizon, despite US-mediated efforts to initiate a peace deal.

Amid increasing tensions, Kyiv’s spy chief revealed that Russia could face one of the biggest challenges to its war machine, which could become a turning point in the conflict.

Lieutenant General Oleh Ivashchenko, the head of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence Directorate, said the Russian army could run out of troops and military resources by 2028, with morale “very low” among Moscow’s forces.

It is expected that Russia’s resources will only last for another 16 months. “Russia has military and economic resources for the next year, but we estimate it will end in 2028,” he said.

“Russia recruits roughly 1,000 people every day, sometimes 1,200, but look at these casualty figures. Yesterday it was 1,410, the day before it was 1,511. Of those, around 60 per cent are killed in action,” he added.

“Morale is very low because nobody wants to fight.”

The prediction comes as the US is trying to initiate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Last week, the Trump administration’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, visited Moscow and Kyiv.

Although no major success was achieved during the talks, both sides did not rule out the possibility of returning to the negotiating table. Russia also signalled the possibility of resuming peace talks with Kyiv.

Both countries have been engaged in military strikes since the envoys returned to Washington.