Kyiv warns of Russian mobilisation on eastern border
06:00 Jonathan Yerushalmy
Russia is planning a major offensive to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the war in
Ukraine on 24 February, according to the country’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov.
Speaking to French media, Reznikov warned that Russia would call on a large contingent of mobilised troops. Referring to Russia’s general mobilisation of 300,000 conscripted soldiers in September last year, he claimed that numbers at the border suggest the true size could be closer to 500,000.
“We do not underestimate our enemy,” Reznikov said. “Officially, they announced 300,000, but when we see the troops at the borders, according to our assessments it is much more.”
The Guardian was unable to independently verify these figures.
On Wednesday evening, President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces were trying to make gains that they could show on the February anniversary of their 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,” Zelenskiy said in a video address.
Reznikov said the offensive would probably be concentrated in two areas: the country’s east, which has seen heavy fighting over recent weeks; and the south.
“We think that, given that [Russia] lives in symbolism, they will try to try something around February 24.”
Kramatorsk apartment block attack kills three
05:43
A Russian missile destroyed and damaged seven more in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Wednesday night, killing at least three people and injuring 20, regional police said.
Local authorities initially said Russia had fired a rocket but the police force later said an Iskander-K tactical missile had struck at 9:45 pm local time (19:45 GMT).
“At least eight apartment buildings were damaged. One of them was completely destroyed,” police said in a Facebook post. “People may remain under the rubble.”
At least 44 people were killed last month when a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the eastern city of Dnipro.
The situation on the front lines in eastern Ukraine 'has become tougher' as Russian forces push for gains that they could show on the first anniversary of their invasion, on February 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a sombre assessment.
A Russian missile destroyed an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk late on Wednesday and at least two people were killed and seven wounded injured, the regional governor said.
Russian forces were maneuvering to try to surround the eastern city of Bakhmut, where troops were fighting building to building for gains of barely 100 metres (yards) a night amid constant Russian shelling, a soldier in a Ukrainian unit of Belarusian volunteers told Reuters from inside the city.
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