Ukrainian intelligence claims that Putin has ordered to seize Donetsk and Lugansk before March

MADRID, 2 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Ukrainian Intelligence said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Army to take over the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine before the end of March.

Andrei Charniak, intelligence representative of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, has indicated that, despite Putin's intentions, the Russian government "does not have the resources to carry out an offensive from Belarusian territory."

However, he has warned that there are signs that Russia "is preparing to try again to carry out operations in the east of the country" to finally take over all of these regions.

"We see the occupation forces redeploying with assault groups, weapons and military equipment in the east. We have information that Putin has ordered the capture of these areas before March," he asserted, according to information collected by the Ukrinform news agency.

In this sense, he has indicated that Russia continues to use Belarusian territory to train mobilized soldiers, but "lacks sufficient forces and means to launch a massive offensive against Ukraine from this direction in the coming weeks."

"Right now no attack groups have been formed. There is no real threat that includes Belarus, nor is an invasion possible from this area, although there are risks that we have to take into account," he asserted.

Previously, the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksi Reznikov, has warned that Russia could be preparing a new offensive on the occasion of the first anniversary of the start of the invasion.