The turning point in the war happened a long time ago — it happened on February 24, when Ukraine dispelled all of Putin's plans and ideas about his future.

Mykhailo Samus, deputy director of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Research on International Affairs, told TSN.ua about this interview.

"The turning point had already happened — on February 24, when it turned out that Ukraine had started to fight, and Putin thought that it was impossible. That is, his calculations, his intelligence, his strategic decision-making process took place under the illusion that Ukraine would not fight. Yanukovych was already sitting in plane in Belarus, ready to arrive in Kyiv and sit on the throne," said Samus.

He added that Russia lost from a military point of view on February 24.

Further, Putin is only trying to bide his time, because he is unable to admit defeat.

"Putin understands that as soon as the war stops, it is the end of his life. And the physical end, most likely. Then he "threw in" the entire regular army, then he mobilized, now he is hitting the energy structure," says Samus.

Putin hopes for a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine, or for sudden uprisings against Zelensky.

However, the turning point in the war happened a long time ago, and only the liberation of the Ukrainian lands followed.

"He is trying to drag himself out and delay time. But the turning point has already come a long time ago. Ukraine will conduct offensive operations, but this is not a turning point — it is the continuation of the work of the Armed Forces," says the expert.

We will remind, Samus also talked about the possible scenarios of the deoccupation of Crimea.

According to him, the successful movement on the Melitopol and Berdyansk directions creates attractive conditions for planning the next operations.

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