UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Dec 3 – Over the past year, the Russian troops have been building up reserves to intensify their offensive in the eastern direction, including the Kupiansk axis. Their goal is to reach the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the “Khortytsia” strategic group of forces.

One of the main goals of the Russian full-scale war is to capture the remainder of occupied Luhansk and Donetsk Oblast; their operations on the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line are dedicated to that. From this section of the frontline, they also aim to push into Kharkiv Oblast and re-occupy Kupiansk and Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, important logistics hubs for the region.  

According to Voloshyn, the Russian offensive has caused significant losses of personnel. In the zone of the frontline “Khortytsia” covers, he said, the Ukrainian army destroyed near 40 Russian tanks and taken 45 troops prisoners. Over the past week, the Russians also lost more than 9,000 troops there.

Voloshyn said the Russians keep replenishing their personnel, including “pulling up reserves that were previously [deployed] to other directions and using strategic reserves that the Russian command has been accumulating throughout the year.”

“I should add that among the Russian personnel, we noticed newly mobilized people. In addition, former prisoners, including women, who were released from [prison] in exchange for participation in the war, are also involved in the assaults. We already know that Russians are forming separate units from [former convicts]. And I want to add that these convicts are sent to the front without their consent,” Voloshyn said.

He added that there were cases when captured Russians who turned out to be former prisoners said that it took no more than a month to go from prison to captivity.

Voloshyn said that the situation in the eastern section of the frontline is tense, but currently under the control of the Ukrainian military.

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