Palisa: Russia tasks military with planning Kyiv, Chernihiv offensive

Ukraine is not currently seeing Russia assemble forces for an offensive in those sectors, meaning there is no immediate threat of an attack, he said.

Palisa said Russia is only working through various possible scenarios, while the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has already prepared defense and countermeasure options.

“Please note: to plan and prepare. That is, several options were indeed being considered. Accordingly, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has developed possible options for a response, defense, protection and countering these measures,” he emphasized.

Ukraine is focused on preventing conditions from developing that would allow Russian forces to launch an offensive, Palisa said.

On Aug. 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was considering a hypothetical offensive into Chernihiv and Kyiv oblasts from Bryansk Oblast. Ukrainian forces are not currently detecting a buildup of Russian troops in that sector, however, and Ukraine’s Defense Forces control the situation along the border.

On June 30, Oleksandr Syrskyi, then commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Russia could launch an offensive into Chernihiv Oblast from Bryansk Oblast, but Ukraine’s Defense Forces were preparing for such a scenario.

On July 17, Syrskyi said the Russian military had not abandoned its plans to seize Ukrainian territory and create a so-called buffer zone in northern Ukraine.