Chris Lange, FISM News
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Ukraine’s military on Tuesday said Russian forces are preparing for an offensive in Ukraine’s southeast. Officials said Moscow has shifted attention away from Kyiv and is repositioning battalions into Eastern Ukraine to gain control of the Donbas region, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Ukraine said its forces had seized back all areas around Kyiv over the weekend following the withdrawal of Kremlin forces. Officials in nearby Bucha made the gruesome discovery of over 400 bodies of civilians scattered in the streets exhibiting telltale signs of torture and summary executions. Graphic images and video emerging from the horrific scene Monday shook the Western world to its core.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Kremlin forces are now focused on seizing the cities of Popasna and Rubizhne in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as well as the embattled port city of Mariupol in the south, where Russian forces continue to block aid workers from bringing in desperately-needed food, water, and medicine. Roughly 130,000 residents remain trapped inside the embattled city. Each passing week further amplifies fears that many may have likely died from starvation, hypothermia, or lack of medical care.
Officials in Ukraine also said access to Kharkiv in the east is blocked.
“The enemy is regrouping troops and concentrating its efforts on preparing an offensive operation in the east of our country,” Ukraine’s military said in a statement. “The goal is to establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”
The approximate change of the situation in Ukraine over the last 7 days.
0000 UTC Tuesday 29/03 –> 0000 UTC Tuesday 05/04.#UkraineCrisis #UkraineUnderAttack #Breaking #Kyiv #Kharkiv #Odesa #UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/ELyArYayo3
— War Mapper (@War_Mapper) April 5, 2022
A senior U.S. defense official said Monday that Russia has repositioned roughly two thirds of its forces from around Kyiv, many of which are amassing in Belarus where it is expected that they will be “refit, resupplied, perhaps maybe even reinforced with additional manpower” and then sent into other parts of Ukraine.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official told reporters the United States estimates that just under 20 battalion tactical groups were positioned around Kyiv prior to the pullback.
“We still assess that the vast, vast majority of the more than 125 battalion tactical groups that the Russians invested in this invasion are still in Ukraine,” the official said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cautioned that the Kremlin’s relinquishment of Kyiv does not warrant complacency, noting that the repositioning of battalions in the east likely signals Moscow has fully committed itself to a protracted and bloody war.
'At this juncture we believe Russia is revising its war aims' to focus on 'eastern and parts of southern Ukraine rather than target most of the territory,' U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said https://t.co/tdovTsIc1j pic.twitter.com/JNXUeenYVF
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 5, 2022
“In the south, we also expect that Russian military forces will do what they can to try to hold the city of Kherson, to enable their control of the waterflow to Crimea, and try to block Mykolaiv so that Ukrainian forces cannot proceed to retake Kherson,” Sullivan said, adding that Russia will likely also keep pressure on Kharkiv.
“During this renewed ground offensive in eastern Ukraine…Moscow will likely continue to launch air and missile strikes across the rest of the country to cause military and economic damage — and, frankly, to cause terror, including against cities like Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Lviv,” he added.
Sullivan said the administration “is working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine’s main security assistance requests,” including “delivering weapons from U.S. stocks where they are available and facilitating the delivery of weapons by Allies where Allied systems better suit Ukraine’s needs.”
“This is happening at what the Pentagon has described at an ‘unprecedented pace,’” he added.
Separately, an unnamed Defense official said the administration is rushing deliveries of more Stinger and Javelin missiles, along with unmanned aerial systems and other defensive equipment, into Ukraine.
“We’re going to continue to support Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. We’re going to do that as much as we can and as fast as we can,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Monday.
“We’ve now committed more than $2.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine just since the beginning of this administration, including more than $1.6 billion since Russia’s invasion,” he added.