Russia planning 24 February offensive – Ukraine
Russia is preparing a major new offensive that could begin as soon as 24 February, according to Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov.
Mr Reznikov said Moscow had amassed thousands of troops and could “try something” to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, three people have died in an attack on the city of Kramatrosk.
Eights others were wounded in the city of Donetsk region after a Russian missile struck a residential building, the provincial governor said.
The death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams search through the rubble.
“The only way to stop Russian terrorism is to defeat it,” Mr Zelensky wrote on social media about the attack. “By tanks. Fighter jets. Long-range missiles.”
Ukraine has once again called on the West to provide fighter jets so they can protect themselves from the air. The news comes after the UK, Germany and the US agreed to send them tanks.
Real figure of troops mobilised ‘much higher’
Mr Reznikov said Moscow had mobilised some 500,000 troops for the potential offensive.
In September, President Putin announced a general mobilisation of some 300,000 conscripted troops, which he said was necessary to ensure the country’s “territorial integrity.”
But Mr Reznikov suggests that the real figure recruited and deployed to Ukraine could be far higher.
“Officially they announced 300,000 but when we see the troops at the borders, according to our assessments it is much more,” he told the French BFM network.
Russia has claimed recent gains in the eastern Donbas region and its forces say they are moving in on the front-line town of Bakhmut after a battle that has lasted months and led to heavy loss of life on both sides.
