Posted on 04/19/22
| News Source: JPost
As the 55th day of the Russia-Ukraine War dawned, the Russian military was still preparing their forces for an expected major offensive in the Donbas region of Ukraine, according to US defense officials, but Ukrainian officials have also said that the Battle of Donbas has already begun.
"We have seen the Russians continue to flow in enablers, capabilities that will help them fight in the Donbas going forward, that's artillery, rotary aviation, helicopter support, command and control enablers," said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby on Tuesday morning. "And we do believe that they have reinforced the number of battalion tactical groups in the east and the south of Ukraine."
A senior Defense Department official said that an additional 11 battalions had been added to the Russian force in Ukraine, for a total of 76.
"It's difficult to say that that's some sort of sign that, you know, that there's an imminence here," said the DoD official. "We still believe that the Russians are doing a fair amount of shaping."
Ukrainian official sources also confirmed the reenforcement of Donbas region's Russian forces. Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhny said that Russia had regrouped its forces in recent weeks.
The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday morning that combat units, support units, weapons, and equipment from central and east Russia were being sent to the Donbas front. This also includes several surface-to-air missile defense systems, such as the S-300 and S-400 weapon platforms, to the border region north of Kharkiv.
However, Ukrainian officials have said that the Battle of Donbas has already begun.
"It can now be stated that Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time. A very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Monday night.