LUGANSK, April 17. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military is stealthily amassing troops near Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region for an attack on the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the Svatovo-Kremennaya area, LPR military expert, Colonel Vitaly Kiselyov told TASS on Monday.
"Kupyansk-Uzlovoi is one of complex areas. In the area of Kislovka, the stealth redeployment of the [Ukrainian army] personnel is underway. All of the operations are being carried out at night by small groups. Likewise, the Ukrainian army is redeploying military hardware by one or two pieces and not only to Kislovka but also south of Kislovka, to the communities located north of Kislovka," the officer said.
The Ukrainian military is reinforcing its combat group in the Kupyansk area to deliver a strike at the Svatovo-Kremennaya section of the frontline, Kiselyov said.
"In my estimate, the space between Svatovo, Nizhnyaya Duvanka and Troitskoye is slated for this strike because there are few settlements in that area and, as they [the Ukrainian military] believe, they can quickly reach the Russian state border," he said.
In the expert’s opinion, Ukrainian troops most likely intend to encircle Russian forces in forest belts to develop their offensive from Kupyansk.
Russian forces, including mobilized reservists "are ready to repel any attack, any aggression and any amount" of Kiev’s troops, he said.
"We are not only ready to repel any enemy aggression but we are also constantly moving forward little by little along the entire engagement line. The initiative is on our side," the officer said.
Spokesman for Russia’s Battlegroup West Dmitry Shepelyavtsev said earlier on Monday that Russian forces eliminated three Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups in the Kupyansk area.