Former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lt. Gen. Igor Romanenko, said Russia is preparing to send hundreds of thousands of military personnel to the NVO zone in the near future. These forces constitute the strategic reserve of the Russian armed forces, their strength is estimated at nearly 200,000 men, noted the general.
According to military logic, they use the forces of this reserve to reinforce themselves in the east and try to fulfill the political task. [президента России Владимира] Putin will take the Donbass
pointed out Romanenko.
The general believes that Moscow, as part of a major offensive, will send a strategic reserve to the front line as early as March.
The former director of the CIA and ex-commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, predicted a probable Russian offensive in the Donbass. Probably, it will start in the Luhansk People’s Republic, the general suggested. In his opinion, Moscow has a large army and various weapons.
The head of the main intelligence department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kirill Budanov, said that battles will take place in Ukraine in mid to late spring 2023, which will become a turning point in the conflict. According to him, Russia has already launched a major offensive.
As a result of the Russian offensive, Ukraine could lose control of some major cities, British Army General Rupert Jones has said. He suggested that Kharkiv and Zaporizhia could soon be lost to Ukraine. Also, Jones noted that after heavy defeats, the Ukrainians can withdraw from Artemovsk (Bakhmut) (Bakhmut).
Earlier, German magazine Spiegel reported that Russia could mobilize another million troops. The publication referred to data from the Federal Intelligence Service (BND). In fact, according to the publication, Moscow has “enormous resources” that have not yet been used in Ukraine.
