An intelligence report from Ukraine has revealed that Russia is planning to mobilize hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the border for a massive new offensive that could coincide with the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defense Minister, revealed to French media that Russian forces have at least 500,000 soldiers ready for a new offensive in the coming weeks.
Reznikov noted the number of Russian troops amassing at the border is higher than the 300,000 newly-enlisted soldiers Russian President Vladimir Putin called up during the partial mobilization last September.
“Officially, they announced 300,000, but when we see the troops at the borders, according to our assessments it is much more,” Reznikov said, The Hill reported.
The Ukrainian defense minister suggested that Russia was likely to launch new attacks from either the Ukraine-Russia border in the east or the south, from the Russian-occupied Crimea.
Reznikov’s warning was echoed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, telling his country’s Western allies that Russia is “preparing to take revenge.”
“Now Russia is concentrating its forces. We all know that. It is preparing to try to take revenge, not only against Ukraine but against a free Europe and the free world,” Zelensky said.
Andrii Yermark, Zelensky’s chief-of-staff, said he had discussed with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Mark Milley about the alleged new Russian offensive.
According to the New York Times, Ukrainian intelligence estimates that there are now more than 320,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Western officials estimated that Russia has 150,000 to 250,000 soldiers either in training camps or being prepositioned.
The new revelation about Russia’s plans in the protracted war came after a senior Ukraine military intelligence official said Putin had ordered his Russian forces to seize the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk by March.
Andriy Chernyak, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, told the Kyiv Post they had observed additional Russian assault groups, units, and weapons being redeployed in Ukraine’s eastern border.
Chernyak has also downplayed the possibility of a Russian offensive coming from Belarus, noting that no Russian strike groups are positioned in the country allied with Russia.
However, the Ukrainian official said they would keep their troops at the Belarus border to counter any military action from their neighboring country.
The prospects of a new Russian offensive came while Ukraine was still waiting for modern and advanced tanks from its Western allies to arrive. But their arrival could not come sooner to counter the possible Russian major attack.
Sabrina Singh, a Deputy Press Secretary at the Pentagon, said it would take “months” for the U.S. M1 Abrams tanks to arrive in Ukraine.
German Leopard 2 and British Challenger 2 tanks are also slated to arrive in the beleaguered country at the end of March.
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