Deputy Chairman [[Dmitry Medvedev]] of the Security Council of the [[Russian Federation]] announced on December 29, 2023: "The Russian military operation in Ukraine will continue next year with its goals remaining unchanged...Those goals include the disarmament of Ukrainian troops and the rejection of the ideology of [[neo-Nazism]] by the [[Maidan regime|current Ukrainian state]]...The removal of the ruling [[Banderovite]] regime isn’t being openly declared, but it's the most important and inevitable goal that must and will be achieved." Defense Minister [[Sergey Shoigu]] stated: "All recruitment plans for the Army and the Navy this year have been fulfilled...The overall size of the Russian Armed Forces currently stands at 1.15 million service personnel...The size of the military will increase to 1.5 million in 2024, which would include up to 745,000 contract troops”.
On February 17, 2024 ''Business Insider'' reported ''Ukraine's military is shifting to a defensive strategy that failed [[Nazi Germany]] in WWII''.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-military-shifts-active-defensive-failed-nazi-germany-wwii-2024-2# , Analysis by Michael Peck, ''Business Insider'', Feb 17, 2024. businessinsider.com</ref>
==Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)==