Russia Planning Major Attack To Mark First Anniversary Of War: Ukraine

Oleksii Reznikov said Moscow had amassed thousands of troops and could "try something" to mark the anniversary of the initial invasion last year.

Ukraine's defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.

Source : Getty

New Delhi: Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has said Russia is preparing a major new offensive, and warned that it could begin as soon as 24 February.

Moscow had amassed thousands of troops and could "try something" to mark the anniversary of the initial invasion last year, Reznikov said.

The defense minister made the remarks on Wednesday during a trip to France where he struck a deal to purchase additional MG-200 air defence radars.

Reznikov claimed that Moscow had mobilised around 500,000 troops for the potential attack but also suggested that the true figure recruited and deployed to Ukraine could be much higher.

"Officially they announced 300,000 but when we see the troops at the borders, according to our assessments it is much more," the minister said.

Reznikov said the offensive would most likely be concentrated in two areas- the east, which has seen heavy fighting over recent weeks, and the south.

However, he added that Ukrainian commanders will move to “stabilise the front and prepare for a counter-offensive” ahead of the anticipated Russian advance.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Wednesday, said that Russian troops were trying to make gains that they can show on the anniversary of the invasion, and issued a dire account of the situation in the eastern province of Donetsk.

“A definite increase has been noted in the offensive operations of the occupiers on the front in the east of our country. The situation has become tougher,” Zelensky said in a video address.

Last week, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, also warned that Russia was preparing for a wave of attacks to mark the anniversary of invasion.

Danilov said that the Russian troops were directed to go beyond the borders of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Donetsk and Luhansk make up the Donbas, a region that the Russian president marked as a goal to take over from the very beginning of the war