Russia is preparing for a long–term war - Defence Ministry

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2022, 20: 06

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine said that Russia is preparing for a long-term military operation in Ukraine.

Source: Speaker of the Ministry of Defence Olexander Motuzianyk on the air of the 24-hour live national television channel.

Direct speech: "In general, the actions of the Russian army indicate that Russia is preparing for a long-term military operation."

"Now we are seeing the most active phase of full-scale aggression that Russia has unleashed against our state."

Details: According to Motuzyanik, the situation at the front is now "extremely difficult, because now, apparently, the fate of this country is being decided."

"The hottest place is the Donetsk operational area and the Sloviansk front. The invaders are actually hitting artillery, aircraft, and shelling residential areas around the clock. Also, Russia is now looking for certain new frontiers, from which and on which it can launch missile and bomb attacks, including from the territory of Belarus and from the territory of Crimea. These heavy battles that are currently taking place in the East will actually be the result of this war," he said.

The Speaker of the Ministry of Defence noted that the task of the Russian invaders is to encircle Ukrainian troops in the area of Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, block the motorway, and this may allow them to reach the administrative borders of the Luhansk region. However, the General Staff of the armed forces of Ukraine calculates all possible risks in order to prevent such actions.

Motuzianyk stressed that Russia received a strategic defeat at the first stage of its aggression, and because of this, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was forced to reconsider its goals.

"They are no longer so ambitious. Russia has already greatly reduced its appetites. Now they are trying to fully take control of the administrative borders of the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions, they are trying to encircle groups of Ukrainian troops there and ensure a stable land corridor with the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," he said.

Motuzianik said that during the full-scale invasion, Russia involved almost 170 thousand troops in Ukraine, more than 90 battalion tactical groups (BTGs).

"Additionally, Russia can put approximately 30 BTGs into operation within one and a half to two months," the representative of the Ministry of Defence noted.

According to him, as of the end of May, the Ukrainian armed forces completely destroyed 17 Russian BTGs.