Russia has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, thousands of tanks, and hundreds of warplanes preparing for a new assault, Ukraine has warned. Vladimir Putin is believed to be preparing for a massive new offensive in the coming weeks to coincide with the first anniversary of the war on February 24.
Ukraine has been monitoring the military build-up as they continue to plea for Western support – including during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit yesterday to London.
Zelensky hailed the UK for its support – but warned it may be enough, and called for modern fighter planes. The new assault is feared to be “much bigger” than the first wave which stormed across the country towards Kyiv almost exactly one year ago.
Russia is believed to be massing 1,800 tanks, 3,950 armored vehicles, 400 fighter jets, and 300 helicopters for the attack, according to a Ukrainian official. They added Putin is also gathering 2,700 artillery guns and 810 rocket launchers for a “new wave of attacks”, reports Foreign Policy.
“It’s much bigger than what took place in the first wave,” the official said. “They are not paying attention to any casualties or losses. In the next 10 days, we expect a new, huge invasion.” Ukrainian intelligence has put the figure for the spring offensive at between 300,000 and 500,000 soldiers.
Russia is believed to have approximately 300,000 troops already operating in Ukraine. And it’s believed another 200,000 men from the recent mobilizations will be called up to fight in the offensive. Pentagon officials however have said new Russian troops are “ill-equipped, ill-trained” and they have been “rushed” toward the frontline.
Kyiv fears Putin could also stage a new round of mobilization to further bolster his forces for the assault. Western analysts and Ukrainian officials have been warning for weeks about a brewing offensive in the country’s East.
Andriy Chernyak, an official in Ukraine’s military intelligence, told the Kyiv Post: “We’ve observed that the Russian occupation forces are redeploying additional assault groups, units, weapons, and military equipment.
“According to the military intelligence of Ukraine, Putin gave the order to seize all of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by March.” Fighting in recent weeks has been centered around Bakhmut – which has been described as the “bloodiest” battle of the war so far, with frontline soldiers having a life expectancy of just 4 hours. (SOURCE)
