Up to 40,000 Russian troops are in Mariupol area - mayor's adviser Andriushchenko

This was reported by the advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, on Espreso TV.

"The accumulation of troops continues. About 35,000-40,000 Russian troops are in and around Mariupol. The concentration is very high, there are troops that have been withdrawn from Donetsk and Luhansk, there are new units, there are mobilized troops," he emphasized.

According to Andriushchenko, there are three training camps for mobilized soldiers in the city, as well as two training grounds for coordination and resupplying.

"The Russian forces say they are being trained for attacks on Vuhledar and Zaporizhzhia, that there is an alleged order to take them in February. There are a lot of them, but there is not much equipment and it is old. T-62 tanks and old BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles are being put out of service. The occupiers are also disabling the equipment, dragging it to the city from the Zaporizhzhia direction and to the Novoazovsk district, where the depots are located," the official pointed out.