Russia is mustering its military might in eastern Ukraine, local officials said on Wednesday. Moscow has begun gathering troops in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, with Kyiv suspecting it is preparing for an offensive in the coming weeks.Kremlin forces are removing locals living near the front line so that they can't provide information about Russian troop deployments to Ukrainian artillery, Luhansk Governor Serhii Haidai said.“There is an active transfer of [Russian troops] to the region and they are definitely preparing for something on the eastern front in February,” Haidai detailed.
Military analysts anticipate a new push soon by Moscow’s forces. Late Tuesday, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said “an imminent Russian offensive in the coming months is the most likely course of action.”The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces also reported today that Russia is concentrating its efforts in neighbouring Donetsk province, especially in its bid to capture the key city of Bakhmut.Donetsk and Luhansk make up the Donbas, a prized industrial region area bordering Russia that President Vladimir Putin identified as a goal from the war’s outset.
Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian authorities here since 2014. Donetsk was one of four provinces that Russia illegally annexed in autumn last year, but it controls only about half of it.
To take the remaining half, Russian forces have no choice but to go through Bakhmut, which offers the only approach to bigger Ukrainian-held cities.Russian forces have been trying for months to capture Bakhmut.