Russia Is Assembling Troops For Major Offensive, Ukraine Warns

Russian forces are attempting to tie down Ukrainian forces with fighting in the eastern Donbas region as Moscow assembles additional troops there for an expected offensive in the coming weeks, perhaps targeting the Luhansk region, Ukraine has said.

- Peter Beaumont

Weeks of intense fighting continued to rage around the city of Bakhmut and the nearby towns of Soledar and Vuhledar, Ukraine’s presidential office said. Moscow’s forces are located in the Donetsk region, which with the neighbouring Luhansk region makes up the Donbas region, an industrial area bordering Russia.

“The battles for the region are heating up,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk, in televised remarks. The Russians are throwing new units into the battle and eradicating our towns and villages.”

In Luhansk, fellow governor Serhiy Haidai said shelling there had subsided because the Russians have been saving ammunition for a largescale offensive”. He told Vot Tak news more and more” Russian reservists were heading towards Luhansk, after reports Moscow had been building up tanks and personnel in the region in recent months. Probably the minimum they need is 10 days to gather the reserves,” said Haidai, suggesting an offensive could happen in the second half of February.

The warnings came as the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, said that further escalation in the conflict could push the world towards a wider war”.