He emphasized that the Russian Federation needs a regular army for this. At the same time, the possibility of providing soldiers with equipment and weapons remains in question.
The Russians in Belarus can gather 50,000-70,000 troops by February and try to break through the border of Ukraine in some northern directions to pull part of the Armed Forces north.
Military expert Oleg Zhdanov expressed this opinion in his video blog.
"I think that the option that the Commander-in-Chief General Zaluzhnyi spoke about is possible - that they can collect 50-70 thousand people in Belarus by February, with enormous efforts, that is, form a combined army, and try to break through our border in some northern directions. On Rivne, in the Volyn, Zhytomyr directions. And that's not intending to reach Kyiv, but to pull part of our army's forces to the north. So that we can start a defensive operation there," Zhdanov explained.
"And then it is possible to strike from the east. But again, in the east, too, you need to have about 100,000 to increase efforts later," he added.
The military expert emphasized that Russia needs a regular army or mobilized ones that will undergo 6-7 months of military training. In addition, the question remains whether it will be possible to provide all these soldiers with equipment and weapons.
Zhdanov also answered the viewer's question of whether a breakthrough of the occupiers in the Sumy direction is possible.
"In order to carry out such a profound breakthrough, all 200,000 that our commander-in-chief spoke about should break through in the Sumy direction. That's when there's a chance," answered the expert.
He noted that these 200,000 soldiers should be divided into at least three parts: three echelons.
"The first echelon is the shock one, which breaks through our defense. The second echelon is the one that develops the offensive in depth. And the third echelon is the reserve one, which is introduced into the battle when the depth reaches operational. That is, 200-250 kilometers are the first-second echelon, and up to 500 kilometers - this is the third echelon. At the same time, perfect logistics will provide all these three echelons with fuel, ammunition, and new human resources. That is, 200,000 should still be sitting at the training ground with equipment and weapons that will replenish these reserves," Zhdanov said.
However, at the same time, he noted that today neither the Bryansk nor the Kursk regions of the Russian Federation had observed formations of strike groups of the Russian army.
"There aren't even 30,000 or 50,000 there. That is, there isn't even a combined army to try to break through our border," the expert said.
