Russia is preparing an offensive on the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, – GUR

Russia will likely increase troop formations for these operations, but it won’t be enough to take a major city.

Russia is preparing to attack the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, stated this in an interview with The Economist . The success of the Russians depends on how strong the Ukrainian defense in Donbas will be.

As Skibitsky predicts, Russia’s main offensive will begin in late May or early June. Russia deployed a total of 514,000 ground troops in Ukraine.

Russia’s Northern Group, based on the border with Kharkiv, currently has 35,000 troops, but is likely to be increased to 50,000 to 70,000. Russia is also “creating a reserve division” (i.e., 15,000 to 20,000 troops) in the central part of Russia, which can be added to the main forces.

Even in this case, according to Skibitsky, the Russians will not have enough resources to capture a large city. The Economist notes that the Western military holds the same opinion. However, smaller-scale operations are possible.

“A quick operation for entry and exit: possible. But an operation to capture Kharkiv or even Sumy is a different order. The Russians know it. And we know it,” said Skibitsky.

Russia’s new offensive

We will remind you that President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that a major Russian offensive will begin in the coming months . It was about the end of May or June.

“We need not only to prepare, we need not only to stabilize the situation… I’m saying that we need help now,” Zelensky emphasized.

Russia is strengthening its grouping of troops in the north (in the Siver and Slobozhan directions) before the start of a major offensive in the east, military expert Oleg Zhdanov said.

(C)UNIAN 2024