Igor Strelkov, the Russian officer who ran the 2014 invasion. He's a savage critic of Putin, preferes a full on invasion. His assessments are more realistic than any other Russian source -
>>1. Opponent.
- Over the past month, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been continuously increasing the number of troops and military equipment in all directions - both "active" and "sleeping", creating a steady superiority in manpower, artillery and armored vehicles in many of them. At the same time, the enemy continued to form strategic reserves, limiting their entry into battle even at the height of the battle for Severodonetsk-Lysichansk.
- As a new element of the tactics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, special attention is noted to the destruction by rocket artillery and unmanned aircraft of important rear facilities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Armed Forces of the LDNR, primarily large ammunition depots that were not covered or weakly covered by air defense forces.
- Local superiority in manpower allowed the enemy in many areas to occupy previously abandoned territories without a fight, complicating the tactical position of our units and subunits operating in these areas.
- Apparently, the emphatically defensive nature of the battle for Severodonetsk-Lysichansk on the part of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was deliberate. The battles were only dragged out with the aim of gaining as much time as possible and inflicting maximum losses on the Russian strike force. After the loss of the main positions was a foregone conclusion, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to withdraw the core of its defending troops, avoiding the encirclement of even a small part of them - both in Severodonetsk and in the area of Lysichansk and Zolote-Gorskoe. At the same time, however, most of the defenders' equipment was irretrievably lost.
Conclusion: The Armed Forces of Ukraine are completing preparations for their own active operations in one or more directions. Whether the enemy will first wait for a new attack by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or will take his actions in a proactive manner - I will not undertake to predict.<<
https://t.me/strelkovii/2864