Russia prepares much larger forces for new offensive

Foreign Policy writes about this with reference to an anonymous Ukrainian military official.

"Russia has also begun arming up and digging in for a coming offensive. The Ukrainian military estimates that Russia already has 1 800 tanks, 3 950 armored vehicles, 2 700 artillery systems, 810 Soviet-era multiple-rocket-launch systems such as Grad and Smerch, 400 fighter jets, and 300 helicopters ready for the new wave of attacks," the article says.

According to Ukrainian officials, the number of Russian troops in Ukraine has exceeded 300 000.

Currently, the Russian presence in Ukraine exceeds the invasion force that Russian President Vladimir Putin used in February 2022, and this time they are concentrated in eastern Ukraine. According to a senior American military official, the Pentagon has described Russian troops that have already been rushed to the battlefield to plug up defensive holes as “ill-equipped, ill-trained, and rushed.” 

The Pentagon believes that the Kremlin has begun sending tens of thousands of troops to replace losses suffered in the battles for Bakhmut and Soledar, but Kyiv is convinced that Putin can go even further, drafting more new troops around the February 24 anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian official also told the newspaper that Kyiv expects "in the next 10 days a new, huge invasion”.  

Analysts expect that the brewing offensive will be concentrated in the East of Ukraine.

American and Western officials estimate that about 200 000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war in Ukraine.