Ukraine is facing a new Russian offensive involving tens of thousands of troops near Kharkiv (northeast), but the head of the National Security Council says he is confident that Ukrainian forces will be able to defend the city, the country’s second largest.
“About 50,000 (Russian troops) were on the border. Now, there are more than 30,000 attacking” the area since Friday, Oleksandr Litvinenko said in an interview with AFP. He assured that, for now, there is no danger to the city of Kharkiv, which is about 30 kilometers from the conflict zone. Before the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the city was home to 1.5 million people.
“Russian actions continue in the border zone. We can say that we see no threat of an attack against the city of Kharkiv,” Litvinenko added.
The Russian attack in the region was “expected” as security services provided information in time and Ukrainian soldiers “were ready”, Litvinenko explained, as media and Ukrainian military bloggers wondered how it happened so easily.
Litvinenko, considered an expert on Russia after studying at a Soviet-era KGB school, also said the surprise replacement of the defense minister reflected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention to prepare for a “long” war against the Westerners. “This implies that Putin is planning a war for a long time. A war not only against Ukraine but against the West as a whole, a war against NATO,” he argued.
Sergei Shoigu, who had been defense minister since 2012, was replaced by economist Andrei Belousov. The new minister is “an experienced administrator, capable of ensuring a long-term war of attrition” and “curbing the traditional theft of the Russian Treasury and theft in the Russian armed forces,” Litvinenko said.
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