The Ukrainian army expects a hard and bloody Russian offensive to begin in the coming days.
Weapon vigil is coming to an end in the Donbass† It didn’t take long, ten days at most. The Ukrainian army says it expects from now on a Russian offensive in these two provinces, acknowledged Kremlin objectives. †According to our information, the enemy has almost completed its preparations for an attack on the East. The attack will take place very soon.” Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandre Motouzianik warned at a press conference.
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The defenders fear urban and insurgent fighting that will be deadly and long, and the outcome of which will also depend on Western aid. “We cannot predict exactly when this will happen, this is information from Western sources,” he said. The Russians are looking for victories after a failed start to the campaign.
Experts say efforts should be directed south of Izyum, towards Donetsk, before concentrating on Crimea. In the absence of men and equipment, the offensives must be linked one by one. Washington also believes that preparations should take a little longer. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already assured that negotiations will not suspend military operations.
The Battle of Mariupol
Ukrainian troops are fortifying their positions in anticipation of this possible attack, by digging new trenches or digging along the roads. The population tries to escape the battle announced there, fleeing, while the air raids and the deadly bombing continue. Eleven deaths were registered in Kharkov on Sunday.
The attack also depends on the fate of Mariupol, where the Russian forces are advancing very slowly. The port area fell on Sunday, pro-Russian separatists said. The last Ukrainian soldiers brace for a “final battle” in this ruined city, under siege for more than 40 days. An open letter to Ukrainians attributed to the 36and naval brigade, which has not been authenticated, states: “We’re running out of ammunition (…) It will mean death for some of us and captivity for others. We are slowly disappearing.”
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In Moscow, Vladimir Putin met on Monday with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first European leader to speak personally with the Russian president since the aggression against Ukraine began in February. The chancellor tried to get humanitarian corridors into Ukraine after talks in Kiev with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “It was not a friendly discussion”, the Chancellery said in a press release on Monday. Vienna intended to explain to Vladimir Putin that he “Isolates Russia that it will lose this war morally, and that it is doing all the wrong things,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
ALSO SEE – Ukrainian army ‘ready’ for imminent Russian attack, says spokesman
