According to a Ukrainian military official, Russia is ready to begin a major offensive operation in Ukraine with almost 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 2,700 artillery systems, 810 multiple launch missile systems, 400 fighter planes, and 300 helicopters.
Under the condition of anonymity, a Ukrainian military official told military cognizance, “Russia has also started arming itself in preparation for an impending offensive. In preparation for a major assault, Russia is thought to have 1,800 tanks, 3,950 armored vehicles, 2,700 artillery systems, 810 multiple launch missile systems from the Soviet era like the Grad and Smerch, 400 combat planes, and 300 helicopters.”
Additionally, according to Ukrainian officials, there are more than 300,000 Russian forces inside Ukraine.
The most recent estimates of Russian military activity in Ukraine are far greater than those used by President Vladimir Putin to begin the military campaign in February, and this time, they are more concentrated in eastern Ukraine.
According to a senior US official, the Pentagon has characterized the Russian troops’ fast deployment to the battlefield to fill in defense gaps as “poorly equipped, poorly trained, rushed.”
The Pentagon asserts that the Kremlin has started deploying tens of thousands of troops to make up for the casualties brought on by the continued fighting in the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar, according to the same source. Kyiv, though, thinks Moscow can go further, sending fresh soldiers around February 24, the day the crisis officially began.
The Ukrainian military officer stated that “Russian forces are substantially greater than what happened in the initial wave.” We anticipate a new, major attack within the next 10 days, the official stated.
Oleksii Reznikov, the defense minister of Ukraine, predicted an uptick in Russian activity around the anniversary of the start of the conflict. However, Mr. Reznikov also cautioned people to only believe information from reliable sources.
The offensive that Russia is planning, according to analysts and Ukrainian authorities, will be concentrated in eastern Ukraine.
According to current estimates by American and Western sources, the fighting has claimed the lives or injured close to 200,000 Russian soldiers. However, it is thought that these figures are greatly exaggerated and created out of thin air.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) claims that Russia has “gained the initiative” in the ongoing conflict by initiating a new offensive in Ukraine.
According to an ISW assessment released on February 8, Moscow has started its “next big onslaught” against the Ukrainian region of Luhansk, which is now largely under Russian control. According to the report, west of Luhansk, “activity along the Svatove-Kreminna line” have picked up during the past week, leading to “limited advances along the Kharkiv-Luhansk border.”
The ISW assessment states that the Russian offensive has already started since “large forces of at least three major Russian divisions have committed to engage in offensive operations in this region.”
The US-based think group claimed that for the first time since Ukraine gained the initiative in August 2022, “Russian forces are setting combat conditions,” and it cautioned that a war Russia’s triumph “is not definite or preset” and might spark a new Ukrainian counterattack.
The Donetsk region of Ukraine is alleged to have seen some “modest progress” from Russia, including a number of “tactical breakthroughs” made during a ground assault near Bakhmut.
ISW reported last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his military until the end of March to retake the entirety of Luhansk and Donetsk, two of the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow asserts it annexed last year.
