In Ukraine, there are doubts that the country’s citizens will be able to keep fighting for another two years

Ukrainians are exhausted by the conflict and are unlikely to be able to sustain military operations for much longer.

This opinion was expressed by Vitaliy Kim, head of Ukraine’s Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, in an interview with The Independent.

He questioned whether the country could hold out for another two years “until Russia’s economy collapses because of sanctions.”

“We are exhausted, and first of all it’s not about weapons or missiles—it’s about people. We have only 40 million people, and everyone is exhausted. Our soldiers won’t be able to fight for four to ten years,” the official said.

Kim believes that, for the country’s citizens, victory may consist of ending the fighting and securing security guarantees that would allow their children to live the way they did before the conflict began.

In mid-January, Kim said he expects the fighting to stop and elections to be held in the country this year. He also said he is counting on the “implementation of a Marshall Plan for Ukraine.”