Russians finalise preparations for major battle for Donbas - Head of Regional Administration

IRYNA BALACHUK - FRIDAY, 8 APRIL 2022, 10:47

Russia is finalising its movement of troops into the Luhansk region and finishing preparations for a major battle for the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Source: Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, on the 24/7 joint newscast

According to Haidai: "We can sense the end of preparations for that massive breakthrough, for that great battle, which is what we will have here in the Luhansk and the Donetsk regions.

There are constant attempts by the enemy to break through the line of defence on certain fronts.

We can see that there is a build-up (of troops and equipment - ed.), there is an increase in shelling and bombing and attempted attacks, but it is not yet a breakthrough."

Details: Haidai said that there was a battle in Rubizhne on 7 April lasting from 4 am until late afternoon, which ended well for our defenders because "they knocked out several tanks and several armoured personnel carriers and killed up to 50 enemy combatants."

According to Haidai, as of this morning the situation in the region was difficult. The Russians were constantly shelling Rubizhne, and there were many strikes from artillery, Grads and Smerch ("Tornado") MLRSs on Popasna, as well as strikes from the air.

The head of the Regional Military Administration stressed that the Russians in Popasna "are simply wiping everything off the face of the earth, because they want to be able to pass through this settlement easily later, when they go on the offensive".

He believes that the invaders do not need the Luhansk Region and its people, they just want to report back to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the region has been taken within its geographical borders.

Background:

On 6 April, Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, said that the Russian invaders were continuing to move equipment and manpower into the region and would try to attack in a few days, but that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were ready to fight back.

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, said that some of the units which Russia was withdrawing from the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions have been redeployed to Kharkiv and Donetsk.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that its troops have completed "basic tasks" onthe Kyiv and Chernihiv fronts and were regrouping to take over Donbas completely.