Swede Christopher Forsbäck, 47, has been in Ukraine training soldiers since March last year.
Now he is preparing for it to participate in the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive.
– This will go their way, but at a terrible cost in human life, says Christopher Forsbäck, senior sergeant.
For several weeks, speculation about the imminent Ukrainian counter-offensive has been dense. The questions how, where and above all when have been debated among experts worldwide.
Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi believes that the big battle will take place in the near future – but not against the war-torn city of Bachmut.
– I think it will take place on a broad front towards Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya, with support directed towards Kherson oblast, he says.
“Will happen very soon”
According to Swede Christopher Forsbäck, the logistics of military equipment have now been sorted out and some troop movement is the only thing that remains before the offensive begins on a wider front. When TV4 Nyheterna reaches Forsbäck, he is traveling in Ukraine, but does not want to reveal his whereabouts.
– It will happen very soon, there are certain things that are missing in Ukraine. In terms of material, we have most of what we need, then some people need to come on site as well, he says.
Forsbäck has a basic education as an engineer soldier and has participated in the Swedish foreign forces, including in the Bosnian war. It is experience and knowledge that he used to increase the fighting ability of Ukrainian troops.
– I was set on fighting, but discovered when I came down that I did more good by educating. It’s about civilians who have to learn the military in a short time and you have to start with the basics and choose the bits that we think are most useful for them, he says.
“Horrible cost in human life”
According to him, morale is high in the Ukrainian ranks and the focus is profit, the alternative is out of the question.
– This will work, but at a terrible cost in human life. The Ukrainian people are so determined that they will not sit under Russian supremacy. They want their country free. They are told to take on a cost that is really unimaginable for us in the West, he says and continues:
– We can count on very high loss figures. We have to attack through completed defense lines and most of them do not have the training that one could wish for. Even if this had been a well-trained NATO army, attacking through mined areas with completed defense lines is a difficult task.