Russia readying assaults in south Ukraine, says Kyiv military spokesman
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New recruits of the Ukrainian Armed Forces taking part in a military exercise at an undisclosed location in southern Ukraine, in October 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
KYIV - Russia is building up infantry and armoured vehicles while stepping up aerial bombardments ahead of planned attacks along Ukraine’s southern front, a Kyiv military spokesman said on Nov 12.
Escalated fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region would pose a significant threat to Ukrainian forces, which are losing ground in the eastern Donetsk region and in the Russian border region of Kursk.
“The Russians have been preparing for some time, for several weeks, to conduct assault operations in several directions, specifically in the Zaporizhzhia direction,” military spokesman Vladyslav Voloshyn told AFP.
He said Russian troops were focusing on the areas around Vremivka, Gulyaipole and Robotyne.
“Every day they conduct air and engineering reconnaissance there, and replenish ammunition. For several weeks, the enemy has been preparing to use armoured vehicles in these assaults,” Mr Voloshyn added.
He declined to say how many Russian troops had congregated along the sprawling front but said small groupings of Russian forces were launching several attacks each day.
He said Ukraine had bolstered its defensive lines in the front-line sector and was prepared to stave off any large-scale attack.
Ukraine’s army last summer launched a highly anticipated offensive aimed at regaining the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine but failed to make any strategically significant advances.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, has warned that Russia has prepared a force of some 50,000 troops, including North Korean fighters, to expel Ukrainian forces from the Russian region of Kursk. AFP
