Russian army needs 100,000 troops to storm Kharkiv - Ukrainian Colonel Chernyk

Ukrainian Colonel Petro Chernyk said this on Espreso TV.

"The border itself is mined and fortified. To conditionally storm Kharkiv, Russia needs at least a 100,000-strong corps in one direction only, not along the entire border line of Kyiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions. It can't be less, because it's 40 kilometers that need to be covered by fighting. If we talk about all three directions, they need an additional 300,000. Where can they get them now? Yes, "in-and-out" operations are possible. If the Russians invade a few kilometers, we will be forced to engage them, and thus divert forces and means that could be useful directly along the contact line," he said.

We should not underestimate the enemy. The Russians can really do anything. But it is incorrect to say that Sumy and Kharkiv will be finally attacked, Chernyk believes.

"They took small Avdiivka for 10 years, up to 8 kilometers, no more. Indeed, they took Bakhmut, but they did not wake up beyond Bakhmut. The tactical heights belong to us, and they still do. The Russians have had some tactical success in advancing only a few hundred meters. So how can such a force of 35,000 march 40 kilometers? As for me, this is nonsense. At the same time, you can expect anything from crazy people, they can strike," said the Ukrainian Armed Forces colonel.

• On May 6, the American Institute for the Study of War reported that Russians were redeploying their troops to the Northern Group of Forces for a possible attack on Kharkiv.
• On May 8, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that Russia was creating a certain group of troops in the Kursk region, north of Kharkiv.