Ukraine says Russia is stockpiling ammunition and troops ahead of eastern offensive
Russian forces in eastern Ukraine appear to be stockpiling ammunition and building up troop reserves ahead of an offensive that could start in weeks, Ukraine’s top official in the Luhansk region has said.
The Russians “are bringing ammunition, but they are not spending as much as before,” Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region’s military administration, said on VotTak television on Monday.
“That means they are saving ammunition loads because they are preparing for the full-scale offensive,” Hayday added.
Hayday claimed that the Russian military continues to mobilize troops en masse in Ukraine. He said that he believes there are tens of thousands of troops mobilized in the occupied Luhansk region, not including regular army personnel such as paratroopers.
The main threat is the quantity,” he said Tuesday on Apostrophe TV. “It is a huge monster that is at war with us, and it has immense resources, not infinite, but still. There are too many.”
Ukrainian leaders have long warned of a new Russian offensive, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine. Hand in hand have come calls for more advanced and powerful Western weaponry. After receiving promises to buy dozens of Western main battle tanks, the Ukrainian authorities have intensified their messages about their desire for Western fighters.
Despite the alleged buildup of resources in eastern Ukraine, it is unclear to what extent Russia will be able to change the battlefield calculus. Britain’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it was “unlikely that Russia will be able to amass the forces necessary to substantially affect the outcome of the war in the coming weeks.”
Russia has been trying for months to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut, without success. Their only notable victory has been the capture of a small town, Soledar, north of Bakhmut. However, her troops have continued to slowly advance north and south of the city in an effort to make the Ukrainian presence in the area untenable.
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said Monday that the landscape around Bakhmut — particularly the hills west of the city — provide natural defenses that make it an “impossible fortress.”
More on Bakhmut: CNN reported in January that US and Western officials were urging Ukraine to shift its approach from the months-long brutal fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut and instead prioritize a possible offensive in the south, using a different style of fighting that takes advantage of the billions of dollars in new military equipment recently committed by the Western allies.
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Alex Marquardt and Katie Bo Lillis contributed to this article.