MELITOPOL, April 18. /TASS/. Inspections of Ukrainian army units in the Zaporozhye direction may indicate that Kiev is preparing for active combat operations near the cities of Pologi and Tokmak in the coming week, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told TASS on Tuesday.
"The situation in the Zaporozhye direction, especially near the cities of Pologi, Orekhova,and Tokmak, may be quite tense in the coming week. <…> Ukrainian forces may try to break through [Russia’s] defense or engage in reconnaissance in force," he said.
According to Rogov, the increased activity by Ukrainian army units indicates they are getting ready for combat operations. "Checks on communications and interactions between various brigades of the Ukrainian army continue practically round-the-clock. The focus is on the quality of communications and the efficiency of interaction. Now, inspectors from the Ukrainian General Staff and Western specialists have arrived in the Ukrainian units in Zaporozhye. If they are planning an attack, it will be staged in the near future," he explained.
Rogov told TASS in early April that Ukrainian troops could send out a reconnaissance team or stage an offensive on the combat engagement line in the Zaporozhye Region. He surmised that the Ukrainian army would try to avoid combat in cities due to a shortage in manpower and would try to break through to the Sea of Azov east of Melitopol to block the land corridor to Crimea.
On March 27, Rogov told TASS that Ukrainian troops had pulled up to 75,000 servicemen to the Zaporozhye area after an unsuccessful offensive attempt on March 23, when Russian forces neutralized up to 400 Ukrainian soldiers.