Ukraine says Russia is preparing 200,000 new troops to attack Kiev

Kiev:

According to an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, the chief of staff of Ukraine’s armed forces expects a new Russian attack on Kyiv in the early months of 2023.

Much of the fighting has recently been concentrated in the east and south, but General Valery Zalushny told the British weekly that the capital would be targeted again.

A “very important strategic task is to build up reserves and prepare for a war that could happen in February, at best in March and at worst at the end of January,” he said in an interview published on Thursday, December 3.

“The Russians are preparing about 200,000 new troops. I have no doubt they will go back to Kyiv,” he said in the interview.

“We have calculated how many tanks, artillery and so on we need.”

At the end of February, Moscow sent its forces into Ukraine with the aim of quickly capturing Kiev.

In a victory for the Ukrainian military, the invaders were held back several dozen kilometers from the capital before retreating from the region in late March and early April.

“Holding this (front) line” running from south to east, pushing the Russians back from Kharkiv in the northeast in September, the general said, was among his current problems. South last month.

As for Zaluzhny, the Russians have been attacking energy infrastructure since October.

“I’m not an energy expert, but it seems to me that we’re on the brink,” he said, adding that it was “possible” to destroy the power grid with missile and drone strikes.

Waves of attacks on the power grid have already caused massive blackouts across the country, leaving millions of Ukrainians in the dark during the bitter cold and winter.

“I know I can beat this enemy,” the general continued. “But I need evidence.

“I need 300 tanks, 600-700 ifvs (infantry fighting vehicles) and 500 howitzers.”

(Other than the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicated feed.)