Sky News reported on the deployment of Russian troops to the Kharkiv region
Russia has begun to pull in its troops near the border with Ukraine near Kharkiv, Sky News reports. This information was also confirmed by the Chief of Staff of the 13th Operational Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andrei Pomagaibus. Analysts believe that the Russian Armed Forces are preparing a summer offensive in the area of Kharkov and Sumy. However, it will not be sharp, and the number and power of attacks will increase over time, experts say.
Russia is pulling its troops to the borders of Kharkiv and Sumy regions, the British TV channel Sky News reports. According to him, 60-70 thousand soldiers are already concentrated at the borders.
Andrei Pomagaibus, Chief of Staff of the 13th Operational Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, also stated that the Russian Federation is pulling troops to the border.
"The enemy is trying to pull personnel closer to the line of contact and conduct at least some kind of assault operations," he said this week, noting that Russian troops "are not succeeding."
Nevertheless, according to him, "there is a clear preparation of the enemy for active offensive actions."
According to Sky News military analyst Michael Clarke, Moscow hopes to link up the Ukrainian forces in the north in this way.
"They have failed in the past, but they definitely have troops on their side of the border, they have 60-70 thousand troops there," Clark added.
The forces of these fighters can create the very buffer zone that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about earlier. "If they left these divisions there, it may mean that they want them to head something else," the analyst suggested.
Speaking about whether Russian forces can "take Kharkov," he replies: "Almost certainly not. But can they take over the territories around it? Yes, they probably can… And if they insist, they'll have about four months to do it until the weather turns against them."
According to Clark, the Russians "essentially used up the forces they could have used for a strategic offensive."
A military expert from the RUSI analytical center, Dr. Jack Watling, in turn, argues that Russia is likely to launch a "soft launch" offensive.
The summer offensive will be accompanied by "a constant increase in the number and scale of attacks," he said. Moreover, according to Watling, "this process has already begun."
The distance from Kharkov to the Russian-Ukrainian border is about 30-40 km. It is the second largest city in Ukraine, with more than a million people living there in 2022. The city is called a "fortress" and was awarded the title of "Hero City of Ukraine" for its resistance in the first months of its independence.
Buffer zone
At the end of April, Putin said that it was necessary to create a safe space near the Kursk region in order to stop the shelling of the region and prevent terrorist provocations by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"They can be secured only by creating a corridor, a buffer zone, so that any means that the enemy can use to launch attacks are beyond their reach," the Kremlin noted earlier.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexei Goncharenko (listed in the Russian Federation as a terrorist and extremist) claims that at the talks in Istanbul, the Russian side demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territory of the new regions. According to him, the Russian delegation also demanded the creation of a security zone in Sumy region, and otherwise threatened to annex the region.
Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian delegations have officially confirmed the authenticity of the leak.
Leonid Tsvetaev
