Instead of seeking to control all of Ukraine, Russia is expected to choose the targeted battlefield in the upcoming potential offensive campaign.
In an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda news site on February 6, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that he believes Russia will carry out a new attack as soon as this February, marking the one-year anniversary of the opening of the military operation. in Ukraine.
Moscow will change tactics compared to the early stage of the conflict, he said. “The Russians tried the tactic of simultaneous attack and control in February last year without success. That is, their resources were scattered and they lost many elite units. Now their new tactic. is centralized, trying to control each part,” the head of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said.
According to Reznikov, Moscow will attack in two priority directions, seeking to break through Ukraine’s defenses in the east and south in order to take full control of the Donbas region and maintain a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula.
He believes that Russia will not return to Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine, because when they left, they burned the entire bridge over the river. Instead, they will probably move along the direction of Zaporizhia, another strategic southern province, to extend the land corridor to the Crimean peninsula, securing the supply route for the operation in Ukraine.
At the moment, the risks are concentrated in the East, then in the South and North, but “there is no reason to panic and withdraw from these cities,” Minister Reznikov said.
He considers missile and drone raid the only remaining danger, but the capabilities of Ukraine’s air defense systems have also improved.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered its 12th month and continues to show signs of escalation. The Financial Times, citing a reliable Ukrainian intelligence source assessed that Russia could launch a new large-scale offensive within the next 10 days before Kyiv could receive the handover of tanks and other weapons of the Russian Federation. West.
Western countries are said to be seeking to speed up the delivery of tanks that have pledged aid to Ukraine. Canada’s Ministry of Defense on February 5 released a video showing the country’s Leopard 2 battle tank being transported to Ukraine. According to Canada’s announcement, a C-17A Globemaster III military transport plane carrying a Leopard 2 tank took off from Halifax airport to a secret gathering place in a European country before being delivered to Ukraine.
Wolfgang Buchner, a spokesman for the German government, also said that the country will soon donate Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Previously, Berlin committed to supply 14 tanks of this type and allow partner countries to re-export German-made tanks. Berlin’s initial goal was to help Ukraine create two complete armored units.
