There are now 76 Russian battalion tactical groups in the Donbas region of Ukraine and in the country’s southeast. About 11 of those were added over the last several days, a senior Defense Department official said today.
So-called BTGs are typically composed of combined-arms elements, such as air defense, armor, tactical vehicles, artillery, helicopters, engineering, and logistical support.
Besides the 76 BTGs, there are about 22 BTGs north of Ukraine that are likely being resupplied and refitted, the official said.
The Russians have at least one tank landing ship in the Sea of Azov that’s capable of landing Russian marines, and there are others of the same class of vessels in the Black Sea. Thus far, there are no indications that an amphibious assault is imminent, the official said.
In the north, the Russians continue bombing in the vicinity of Kharkiv as Russian forces blockade the city, a Ukrainian official said.
In the Joint Forces Operation of the Donbas region of Ukraine, the heaviest fighting is around a town called Popasna, the official said.
Fighting also continues to the south and the southeast of the Ukrainian city of Izyum, the official said.
Russian long-range bombers have executed cruise missile strikes on both Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the city of Lviv in Ukraine’s far west over the last couple of days, the official said.
The Pentagon’s assessment is that they are going after primarily military targets or what they believe to be military targets, the official noted.
Bombings in a number of cities in eastern Ukraine have risen in the past two 24 hours, with the Russian military also attacking in the west, in Lviv, in central Zaporizhia, in the north with continuous pounding in Kharkiv, and in the south in Mykolaiv.
In this climate, the head of the United Nations humanitarian aid, Martin Griffiths estimates that the ceasefire is unlikely at the moment but could occur in a few weeks. Moscow “does not put the ceasefire high on its priorities, not yet,” the official said, as the UN seeks to resolve humanitarian issues, but has yet to find a positive response from Moscow, and while Kyiv has agreed on relevant proposals presented by the people of the UN.
In a dramatic message at midnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the development that Kyiv was expecting, saying: “We can now say that Russian troops have begun the battle of Donbas, for which we are preparing Cairo. “A very large part of the Russian army is now focused on this attack.” Earlier, Ukrainian President’s key advisor Andriy Yermak had said that “the second phase of the war had begun” and called on the country’s forces to resist.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said a “significant part” of the Russian army was now focused on taking control of eastern Ukraine. In a video address where he vowed to continue the fight despite the escalation, he said Russian troops had begun the battle for Donbas, “for which they have been preparing for a long time”.
“Now we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” he said in a video address. Zelenskiy said a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive”.
He added: “No matter how many soldiers are driven there, we will defend ourselves. We will fight. We will not give up anything Ukrainian.”
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the press service of the national security and defense council of Ukraine, reported earlier that “an active phase of the Russian offensive began almost along the entire frontline” referring to the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions, adding: “The occupiers tried to break through our defenses.”
source defense.gov
