Russia has prepared almost 2,000 tanks and 300,000 soldiers for a renewed offensive to seize Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region in the coming weeks, a Ukrainian intelligence officer has warned.
The attack is expected to be bolstered by thousands more armoured vehicles, artillery systems, as well as hundreds of fighter jets and helicopters.
For weeks, Ukrainian officials have warned of a pending Russian offensive in a bid by the Kremlin to regain the initiative after months of stalemate on the battlefield.
The attack is expected to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s launch of his full-scale invasion on Feb 24.
Amid a surge in fighting, military analysts have claimed the long-awaited Russian offensive has already started and is expected to accelerate as the symbolic date approaches.
“We expect in the next 10 days a new, huge invasion,” a Ukrainian military official told the Foreign Policy news website.
Ukrainian military intelligence believes that Russia now has more than 300,000 troops inside the country, almost double the amount that were amassed on its borders before the start of the war, the official added.
The Russian military has also prepared 1,800 tanks, 3,950 armoured vehicles, 2,700 artillery systems, 810 soviet-era multi launch rocket systems, 400 fighter jets and 300 helicopters for the fresh offensive, according to estimates made by Kyiv.
“It’s much bigger than what took place in the first wave,” the official said. “They don’t pay attention to any casualties or losses on the [battlefield].”
If correct, the estimates could mean Russia has more tanks than it originally entered Ukraine with.
General Valery Gerasimov, who was last month appointed by the Kremlin as overall commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, is expected to focus attempts on capturing the remaining Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Photo grab from Russian Ministry of Defence video
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