2022-04-13T21:05:00+03:00 Politics 2024-09-15T07:32:36+03:00

Ukrainian news

Russia Deploys 5 Times More Forces To Donbas Than Ukraine Has - The Times

Russia Deploys 5 Times More Forces To Donbas Than Ukraine Has - The Times

Russia is trying to pull forces to Donbas, which will be 5 times larger in number than the Ukrainian ones.

This is reported by The Times.

The source says that forces are being pulled from all over the region. At that, the offensive could begin as early as the end of this week.

Russia is building up military forces in three places on the border with Ukraine: in Belgorod, Voronezh regions and around the southern city of Matveev Kurgan. In addition, there is a concentration of Russian troops in the area of ​​the city of Izium.

The number of Russian troops could increase even more if Mariupol falls, and up to 6,000 Russian troops can advance from there.

General Richard Barrons, the former British military commander in chief, said "the Russians will try to throw in more ground troops to get the balance right, knowing that the Ukrainians in the east are in a very good position."

But at the same time, the Ukrainian military is well dug in, so they will be able to withstand even the outnumbered Russian troops. Barrons said "it's going to be a very tough fight of attrition."

He also said that Russian troops would probably try to encircle the Ukrainians in order to force them out of well-defended positions. According to him, for protection, "Ukrainians will need weapons of long range and lethality."

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said the battle for Donbas will be fought between two "very well matched" military forces and it is "very likely" that Ukraine will win.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, the Russian occupiers set up minefields to prevent the advance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv direction.

Russian troops went on the offensive from Izium (Kharkiv region) towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk (Donetsk region).