MADRID, 2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, has warned that Russia plans to launch a new military offensive on February 24, coinciding with the first anniversary of the start of the invasion, and has stated that Moscow has mobilized half a million soldiers.
“We believe that since they (the Russians) live in the symbolic, they will try something around February 24,” Reznikov told French television channel BFM TV. “The enemy must not be underestimated,” he pointed out, before stressing that although Moscow has officially announced the mobilization of 300,000 people, “from what is seen at the borders, estimates suggest that there are many more.”
Thus, he has detailed that the Russian forces “can attempt a two-axis offensive.” “It could be the Donbas and the south,” she pointed out, before insisting that kyiv is conveying to its partners that “it is necessary to be prepared as soon as possible.” “We cannot lose the initiative,” argued the Ukrainian Defense Minister, who reiterated that “weapons are necessary to contain the enemy, since everything in war depends on the initiative.”
Russia has announced in recent weeks various territorial advances in the Donetsk region, located in the east of the country, and its troops are advancing towards the strategic town of Bakhmut. Moscow announced in September the annexation of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, all of which have been partially occupied since the start of the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
