MELITOPOL, March 30. /TASS/. Ukraine continues to build up its forces in the Zaporozhye Region, including near the engagement line, Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Are Together With Russia civil society group, told TASS on Thursday.
"Regarding the combat engagement line, a buildup of Ukrainian forces is being reported everywhere: in Orekhov, and in the area of Kamensky, < ... > in the area of Stepnogorsk, and at a greater distance from the engagement line, for example, in Kamyshevakha. <... > There is a buildup of personnel, equipment, ammunition, fuel and oil. [The stockpiling] of fuel and oil suggests that they will not stand still," Rogov said.
He said that interruptions in mobile communications and Internet services had been on the rise in the Kiev-controlled parts of the Zaporozhye Region in recent days.
"This is intentional, as Zelensky's militants are well aware of the disloyalty of the local population and are doing everything possible to prevent people from reporting what is happening, for example, about the transfer of equipment. It is no secret that we receive a lot of information to adjust fire and strikes from the territory of the region that’s temporarily occupied by the Zelensky regime," Rogov said.
On March 27, he told TASS that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had assembled up to 75,000 people in the Zaporozhye Region following the attempted offensive on March 23 that was repelled by Russian forces, which killed up to 400 militants.
Earlier, Rogov told TASS that Ukrainian forces are preparing an offensive on Melitopol in order to reach the Sea of Azov and sever the land corridor to Crimea from the supply routes for Russian forces and the population of the peninsula. According to the politician, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be ready for active operations in the Zaporozhye Region in late March or early April.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said in an interview with the Polish news outlet Gazeta Wyborcza that was published on March 29 that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wrapping up preparations for several "counterstrikes," but would be unable to carry them out now partly due to weather conditions.