War in Ukraine: Russia has deployed 420 thousand soldiers in the occupied zones, Kyiv reports

This is a wave. This Saturday, during a conference, Deputy Chief of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadim Skibitsky provided information that sheds light on the scale of the Russian offensive: “The Russian Federation has concentrated more than 420 thousand military personnel in our temporarily occupied territories, including Crimea.”

However, this figure “does not include the National Guard and other special structures responsible for maintaining occupation power in our territories,” he added.

“Attack on port infrastructure”

Over the past month, Russia has used Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, to “attack port infrastructure” in southern Ukraine, he said. “Drones deployed in Crimea are being used against our ports of Izmail and Reni,” through which Ukrainian grain was transported across the Black Sea until Moscow withdrew from the international agreement in July, Skibitsky detailed.

Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said the Russians are seeking to reclaim territory in the Kharkov region in the northeast of the country liberated by the Ukrainian army a year ago. “They want revenge,” she said. Their task in the east is also to deconcentrate our forces so that we cannot concentrate them in the Bakhmut area, where we are successfully advancing.”

The Russian army has an advantage

She acknowledged that the Russian army continues to have an weapons advantage over Ukrainian troops amid a slow Ukrainian counter-offensive since June. “We must admit that the enemy is strong, that he has more people and weapons,” said Deputy Minister Malyar.

According to her, over the past week alone, the Russian army fired “almost 400 thousand shells” at Ukrainian positions on the Eastern Front, while “we can use eight times less” ammunition.