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Sky News: UK official anticipates 'major' Ukrainian attack in Donbas in 'next few days'

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Sky News: UK official anticipates 'major' Ukrainian attack in Donbas in 'next few days'
Soldiers follow a vehicle during a military drill in the Northern Operational Zone, Kyiv Oblast, on June 7, 2023. (Yevhen Lubimov / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Tobias Ellwood, the head of the U.K. Parliament's defense committee, believes Ukraine would launch a "major attack" against Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region "in the next few days."

Ukraine's military is conducting "probing and shaping operations," and "the main front of the Ukrainian capability still in reserves ready for that singular attack," Ellwood told Sky News on June 12.

"The Russians don't know where that's going to be, but we're seeing chaos ensue between the Wagner Group and the Russian forces themselves," the official said. However, Ellwood urged "caution" to anyone expecting Ukraine will "charge in" and "it will all be over very quickly," Sky News wrote.

The official called on international partners to supply Ukraine with more tanks and long-range missiles as well as speed up the process of providing U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets.

His comments come amid Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive in the country's east and south. The Ukrainian military reported liberating Novodarivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast as well as Storozheve, Blahodatne, Neskuchne, and Makarivka in Donetsk Oblast.

Russia seeks to occupy the entire Donbas region comprised of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which has been the epicenter of the war's fiercest fighting for months.

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Dinara Khalilova

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Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.

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