Ukraine is eyeing a possible major Russian offensive this month, but Kiev has reservations to contain forces from Moscow, even if not all of the West’s latest military supplies will arrive in time.
This was stated on Sunday by Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov.
At the press conference, Reznikov said that Russia could stage a new offensive in February to coincide with the symbolic date of the first anniversary of its invasion, but that from a military point of view Moscow’s resources were not not ready for it.
Meanwhile, according to a Reuters report, following a Russian rocket attack on Kharkiv on Sunday, one of the rockets hit a residential building.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the situation in eastern Ukraine was becoming increasingly tense due to a new wave of Russian bombings in the regions of Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Lugansk, Donetsk and Mykolaiv.
Reznikov also said on Sunday that Ukraine would not use long-range weapons promised by the United States to strike Russian territory and would only strike Russian units in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Recall that on Friday the United States confirmed that the new missiles, which will be included in the US$2.175 billion military aid package, will double the range of strikes that Ukraine can carry out.
“We always officially tell our partners that we will not use weapons supplied by foreign partners to bomb Russian territory. We only fire at Russian units in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory,” Reznikov told reporters at a press conference.
