MELITOPOL, September 22. /TASS/. Ukraine’s armed forces have redeployed more than 10,000 troops from other sections of the combat line of engagement in the Zaporozhye area to the vicinity of Rabotino and Verbovoye, Vladimir Rogov, leader of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told TASS.
"Near Rabotino and Verbovoye, the Ukrainian army has redeployed reinforcements from the Vremevka and Vasilyevka sections of the Zaporozhye area. <...> They redeployed over 10,000 militants to the Orekhovo area in addition to those already there. It seems like the adversary is dispatching everyone capable of holding a weapon," Rogov said.
According to his assessment, reinforcing the Ukrainian grouping in this area may be a sign of preparations for active combat. "If we look at the number of units present here, it is more than we have seen throughout the entire so-called Ukrainian counteroffensive: 11 brigades, air assault regiments, special-op forces, three air reconnaissance groups. This means that they are getting ready for something," the politician noted. According to Rogov, some of these units, including the Ukrainian army’s 46th airmobile, 71st jaeger and 82nd air assault brigades "are not fully staffed brigades, they have already been battered."
On Thursday, Zaporozhye Region Acting Governor Yevgeny Balitsky said that Ukrainian troops were completing the redeployment of their units near the village of Rabotino. In his opinion, the situation will escalate but the enemy has little chance of success given that "the morale of the Ukrainian armed forces is very low."
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that the Ukrainian armed forces had been making unsuccessful attempts at a counteroffensive since June 4. On September 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that since then, Ukrainian troops have lost 71,500 people, 543 tanks and almost 18,000 armored vehicles of various types. The Russian head of state noted that the "counteroffensive" produced no results.