Russia says its military is regrouping. A ramped-up assault on eastern Ukraine could be next
Russia's military says it has moved on to a new phase of its so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine, claiming that it is shifting its focus to the Donbas region in Ukraine's east.
Is this regrouping of forces a feint -- allowing battered Russian forces to regroup after suffering serious losses at the hands of Ukrainian defenders -- or a simple face-saving measure? Is Russia actually moving troops and equipment to concentrate on Ukraine's east, where Moscow has recognized two separatist republics?
On paper, that seems to be the case. Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a "planned regrouping of troops" was underway around Kyiv and Chernihiv, one day after Russian negotiators said Moscow's forces would take steps toward de-escalation around those two cities. He said Russian forces were regrouping in order to "intensify operations in priority areas and, above all, to complete the operation for the complete liberation of Donbas."
US officials and military analysts have rightly been skeptical of Russia's claims of de-escalation, and some observers have suggested Russia's shifting military objectives are meant to conceal massive setbacks on the battlefield. But there is evidence that Russian military activity is ramping up in the east: Ukrainian officials on Thursday reported heavy shelling of a number of Ukrainian cities, particularly in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of the Donbas and around the northeastern city of Kharkiv.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-says-its-military-is-regrouping-a-ramped-up-assault-on-eastern-ukraine-could-be-next/ar-AAVIzGL
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