The Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing for military operations in the Azov-Black Sea zone and, quite likely, near the territory of Crimea, writes Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The publication notes that while frosts are raging in Donbass, no major offensive can be expected from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but, based on official statements of the Ukrainian military leadership, the Kiev regime is still committed to a military solution to the conflict in Donbass. “The armed forces continue to carry out combat missions in the ATO zone and restrain Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine,” the publication cites a statement by Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak last week. – To carry out these tasks in 2016, 15 brigades of ground forces, 210 air force crews, 3 naval groups, 28 ships and support vessels of the Naval Forces, 4 brigades of highly mobile landing forces, 13 units of special operations forces were trained. In addition, a 100-strong reserve of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been prepared.” “A simple analysis of these statistics suggests that, firstly, Kiev has concentrated a group of about 100 military personnel in the Donbass and near the borders with Russia,” the publication comments on the statement of the head of the Ukrainian defense departments. – Plus the same amount is in reserve. In total, these are four combined-arms armies, which is almost equivalent to the number of military personnel of the Southern Military District (SMD) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Secondly, warships are included in the ATO forces, which indicates that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing for military operations in the Azov-Black Sea zone and, quite likely, near the territory of Crimea.”
At the same time, according to Poltorak, the number of armed forces of the DPR and LPR is only about 40 thousand people.
“That is, in the event of an offensive, Kyiv will have a significant superiority over the militias. How Russia will behave in such a scenario is unknown. However, last week, during a meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense, the head of the Russian military department, Army General Sergei Shoigu, announced the need to further strengthen the Southern Military District “in connection with the turbulent situation in the southeast of Ukraine.” For these purposes, an army corps in Crimea and two motorized rifle divisions have already been formed in the district,” the publication notes.
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