Zaporizhzhia direction is as dangerous as eastern one – Colonel Kostenko

He said this on Espreso TV. 

“In the south, the enemy is forming reserves, some of which were brought up from the right bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region during their retreat. This is a strategic area for both the enemy and us. Our task is to liberate and dismember the enemy group into two parts, while for the Russians it is a land corridor and access to the Sea of Azov. From a defense point of view, the enemy needs to hold the south, so they have heavily mined the area and are holding the grouping. But we have information that they plan to advance there,” the SBU colonel said. 

Roman Kostenko added that the main Russian forces are in the Donetsk direction, where the enemy is assembling strike groups, but there are also groups and trained units in the Zaporizhzhia sector, which the Ukrainian command is aware of and pays attention to.

“The Zaporizhzhia direction is as dangerous as the eastern one, meaning that these are two strategic directions for both sides, for us and for the enemy. There are more active hostilities in the east, because the enemy sees an opportunity to capture Bakhmut and present it as a victory over a large city, thus explaining the surrender of Kherson. The losses suffered by the enemy also need to be justified somehow. In Zaporizhzhia, we are currently holding the line, and strategically, we are preparing reserves for both defensive and offensive actions, if the conditions are right,” Kostenko said.

• Military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko suggested that the Russian forces may try to attack in a narrow area in the Zaporizhzhia region.