Putin Has Ordered to Seize Donetsk and Luhansk Region by March – Defence Intelligence

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the invasion army to seize the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by March, Andrii Cherniak, the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, said.

According to him, there are signs that Russia is preparing for a new attempt to launch a massive offensive and capture the east of the country.

"We observe that the Russian invasion forces are redeploying additional assault groups, units, weapons and military equipment to the east. According to Ukraine's military intelligence, Putin has ordered to seize the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by March," Chernyak noted.

He added that the Russian Federation uses the territory of Belarus to train mobilized soldiers and does not have sufficient forces and means to launch a massive offensive against Ukraine from this direction in the coming weeks.

"As of today, there are no formed strike groups. There is no threat of Belarus being involved in a full-scale invasion on the side of Russia against Ukraine, but these are also, of course, risks that we must take into account," Chernyak said.

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