Ukraine is ready for any large-scale offensives that Russia could potentially launch in the near future, military intelligence (HUR) General Vadym Skibitskyi said on Aug. 14, commenting on recent rumors about such attacks in Western media.
Moscow is currently exerting efforts to slow down Ukraine's counteroffensive, and destroy the country's internal unity and the trust between Kyiv and its partners, Skibitskyi told Obozrevatel in an interview.
"They want to win time to restore weapons stockpiles and the fighting capacity of their occupying forces. Our task is to prevent this," the military intelligence officer said.
"Yes, it is not easy for our security and defense forces, but we have no choice but to continue the fight and we are moving forward wisely and courageously."
Skibitskyi pointed out that despite predictions of a large-scale Russian offensive during the last winter, such plans have failed.
Asami Terajima
Since mid-July, Russian forces have been concentrating around Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, trying to regain the positions lost during the Ukrainian surprise counteroffensive last autumn.
On July 17, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said that Russia was concentrating "more than 100,000 personnel, more than 900 tanks, more than 555 artillery systems, and 370 multiple rocket launchers" in the Lyman-Kupiansk direction.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its analysis on Aug. 13 that according to Russian military bloggers, Moscow's troops are slowly advancing toward Kupiansk but still require reinforcements to break through the Ukrainian defenses.
The Russian command is not currently able to deploy more forces in the Kupiansk direction for this purpose, the ISW added.
(Updated: )
