He made the comments on air with Espreso TV.
"In my opinion, the Russians are concentrating forces in the area of Vuhledar because it is a major logistics center. Plus, it is important for them to seize Vuhledar to prevent the Armed Forces of Ukraine from striking the occupied city of Volnovakha. And most importantly, they are trying to break through the Ukrainian defense to enter the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions," Verbovskyi explained.
On February 2, Mariupol mayor adviser, Petro Andryushchenko, reported that the Russian military is telling residents of villages near Mariupol that they received an order to capture Vuhledar and Zaporizhzhia in February
On February 4, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced that the Russians are using all their forces to encircle Bakhmut this week.