Military: Russia prepares strike force near Novoiehorivka in Lyman direction

Russia is accumulating its forces near the Luhansk Oblast village of Novoiehorivka in the Lyman direction, which is one of the epicenters of fighting on the eastern front, Eastern Force Grouping spokesperson Illia Yevlash said on Sept. 8.

"Now the enemy is accumulating all their forces there. They have prepared a strike force in that direction," Yevlash said on television.

According to the spokesperson, Ukrainian forces are holding back a heavy onslaught by Russian invaders, with tens of thousands of ammunition rounds fired at them every day.

Russia is reportedly consolidating forces from broken units, sending all military personnel, including signallers, into combat.

Since July, the Ukrainian military has warned that Russia began accumulating a significant force around Lyman and Kupiansk. In late August, Yevlash reported that Russia had concentrated over 100,000 troops in the Kupiansk-Lyman direction in Kharkiv Oblast and Luhansk Oblast.

According to the U.K. Defense Intelligence, this is likely part of a Russian strategy to seize the initiative from Ukrainian forces, who are advancing on the southern front and around Bakhmut.

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The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko