He shared the information on Espreso TV.
"The enemy has accumulated forces in the Zaporizhzhia direction. These are the troops that left the right bank of the Dnipro River, which were forced out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and moved to the left bank in order to strengthen the eastern and Zaporizhzhia directions. The enemy is trying to push through Bakhmut and Soledar with these reserves, and in the south we see that they accumulate reserves," Kostenko noted.
According to the SBU colonel, Russian troops are active in the Zaporizhzhia direction and are trying to capture Ukrainian territories in small groups.
"The enemy understands that the Zaporizhzhia direction is important for us. The enemy is preparing for the spring campaign and is now creating the conditions for a further offensive by accumulating reserves and introducing these units into combat operations. The enemy is conducting active operations, they are trying to capture territories in small groups in order to improve their positions and get us out of the dominant heights. Our task is to stop the enemy in order to create conditions for the Ukrainian offensive," Kostenko added.
Both Russian and Ukrainian troops cannot achieve significant success on any part of the front, due to which the war between Russian and Ukraine reached a dead end.
Natalia Humeniuk, head of the joint coordination center of Ukraine’s South Defense Forces, reported that Russian troops are trying to strengthen their defense in some areas of Dnipro River's left bank.