The military said the invaders were amassing resources and men near the Ukrainian border, but were unsure of a large-scale enemy offensive.
Ukrainian intelligence confirmed that the so-called Russian counter-offensive, about which many media have already written, will begin at the end of May or the beginning of June. Today, the Russian army operates as a “single body” with a clear plan and under a single command. The area where the invaders wanted to attack was Kharkov and, possibly, Sumy regions.
“Quick operation”
Deputy head of Ukrainian intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadim Skibitsky said that the enemy group North, which is now located on the border of Kharkov, has 35 thousand soldiers, but they plan to increase it to 50-70 thousand military personnel. The conquerors also “formed a division of reserves” (ie, 15-20 thousand people) in central Russia, which they could add to the main forces.
At the same time, Skibitsky is confident that it is “not enough” to capture a large city. And this opinion, he said, is shared by Western militaries, but this group may be enough to complete a smaller mission.
“A quick operation to get in and out is possible but an operation to capture Kharkov or Sumy is a completely different order and we know it,” said the military in an interview with the British magazine economist.
“We don’t know how serious these plans are”
Information about a possible Russian attack on the Kharkov region and even on the Sumy region was confirmed by the commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Alexander Pavlyuk.
“Our intelligence services say that the Russians have plans to take Kharkov or Sumy, but we do not know how serious these plans are and whether they have implemented them with the forces they have,” he said in an interview. with The Times.
The general also mentioned Moscow’s plan to occupy not only Donetsk and Lugansk regions, but also Zaporozhye. However, the Defense Forces will do everything to prevent the invaders from carrying out these plans.
At the same time, according to the commander, for this the Ukrainian Armed Forces need weapons, especially artillery, because the Russian troops have a ten to one advantage in artillery.
“We will do everything possible to prevent a Russian breakthrough, and we hope that the American weapons will help us. If they arrive in time, we will not lose the territory that we lost in the last few months ,” he says.
“It is possible to open a new front line”
Later, the head of the state administration of the Kharkov region, Oleg Sinegubov, commented on the statements of Skibitsky and Pavlyuk. He said that the Russians are indeed gathering forces on the borders, but now “it is too early to talk about activation, as well as the possibility of opening a new front line.”
“The forces that are there are not enough compared to the direction of Kupyansky that we are taking all the necessary steps to be ready to fight the challenges that we may have,” said Sinegubov.
He noted that a group of 35 thousand soldiers is a constant number of Russian military personnel stationed in the north for some time.
“The figure is not new – we have looked at it, we will continue to look and draw conclusions about the location of their deployment, their possible next step. Maybe it will be the opening of a new front line in the north, maybe they will redeploy in the direction of Kupyansk, and maybe in the direction of Donetsk, which has already happened,” said Oleg Sinegubov.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.