Moscow is deploying more army personnel in the Donbas region, with analysts anticipating it will soon begin an offensive.
Russia is mustering its military might in eastern Ukraine, local officials said on Wednesday.
Moscow has begun gathering troops in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, with Kyiv suspecting it is preparing for an offensive in the coming weeks.
Kremlin forces are removing locals living near the front line so that they can’t provide information about Russian troop deployments to Ukrainian artillery, Luhansk Governor Serhii Haidai said.
“There is an active transfer of [Russian troops] to the region and they are definitely preparing for something on the eastern front in February,” Haidai detailed.
Military analysts anticipate a new push soon by Moscow’s forces. Late Tuesday, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said “an imminent Russian offensive in the coming months is the most likely course of action.”
The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces also reported today that Russia is concentrating its efforts in neighbouring Donetsk province, especially in its bid to capture the key city of Bakhmut.
Donetsk and Luhansk make up the Donbas, a prized industrial region area bordering Russia that President Vladimir Putin identified as a goal from the war’s outset.
Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian authorities here since 2014.
Donetsk Govenor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said Russia is “actively deploying new military personnel to the region,” posting images of the aftermath of shelling in Bakhmut.
Donetsk was one of four provinces that Russia illegally annexed in autumn last year, but it controls only about half of it. To take the remaining half, Russian forces have no choice but to go through Bakhmut, which offers the only approach to bigger Ukrainian-held cities.
Russian forces have been trying for months to capture Bakhmut. Moscow-installed authorities in Donetsk claimed Russian troops are “closing the ring” around the city.
Russian shelling of Bakhmut, where most residents have fled and others spend much of their time in cellars, killed at least five civilians and wounded 10 others on Tuesday, Ukraine’s presidential office said Wednesday.
Ukraine is keen to secure more Western military aid as it tries to fend off the much larger Russian forces. It has already won pledges of tanks and now wants more.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tweeted Wednesday that talks are underway on securing longer-range missiles and fighter jets from Ukraine’s allies.
Asked to comment on media reports about a new package of US military assistance to Ukraine expected to be announced soon, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described it as “a direct path to inciting tensions and taking the escalation to a new level.”
“It will require additional efforts on our part, but it won’t change the course of events,” he said in a conference call with reporters.
The Western allies are trying to broaden their coalition in support of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday in Tokyo that he sought stronger cooperation and more “friends” for the alliance in the Indo-Pacific region.
