DONETSK, May 24. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army is preparing several counteroffensive operations in the Kharkov area, Igor Kimakovsky, advisor to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), told Channel One.

"The enemy has redeployed several brigades from here to the Kharkov area. It means that serious fighting is underway there and we know that the enemy is preparing several counteroffensive operations," he said.

Some units that are being redeployed from the Donetsk area to other sectors along the line of engagement have almost no armored equipment. "Many brigades are so battered that they cannot be described as motorized rifle brigades any longer; they are in fact infantry units because they only have vehicles to transport troops. I guess this currently is the main mission of our forces in the Donetsk area: they need to deplete enemy forces as much as possible so they cannot serve as reserves in the Kharkov area," the DPR head’s advisor concluded.

Kimakovsky told TASS on May 23 that members of Ukraine’s International Legion and several pieces of Western equipment had been deployed to the Chasov Yar area.