Ukraine's armed forces will be ready to launch a counteroffensive against the Russian forces that are occupying large swathes of the country in spring, according to Ukrainian deputy military intelligence chief Vadym Skibitsky.
The exact timing depended on several factors, however - including Western arms shipments, which play a very important role in Ukraine's efforts to defend itself against the Russian attackers, Skibitsky told Germany's Funke Media Group in comments published on Sunday.
More than one year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, Skibitsky reiterated Kiev's stated goal of liberating all Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula which Moscow annexed in 2014.
"We will only stop when we have our country back according to the [internationally recognized] borders of 1991," he said. "This is our message to Russia and to the international community."
Skibitsky went on to outline how Kiev was planning to achieve its "strategic military goals."
"We are trying to drive a wedge into the Russian front in the south - between Crimea and the Russian mainland," the military intelligence official said.
"It's possible that we will also destroy weapons depots or military equipment on Russian territory, for example around the city of Belgorod, from where attacks on Ukraine are launched. This poses a threat to [the Ukrainian city of] Kharkiv, for example."
Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. At least 8,000 civilians have been killed and more than 13,000 have been injured so far, according to official estimates.
Russian forces currently occupy some 20% of Ukraine's territory.
