Putin Orders Russian Troops To Seize Donetsk, Luhansk Regions By March: Ukraine Intel

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his country's troops to completely seize Ukraine's already-partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk provinces by March, a representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) claimed.

There are already signs that Russia is preparing for a new offensive in the Donbas, a Ukrainian region that includes both Donetsk and Luhansk, Andriy Chernyak told Ukrainian newspaper the Kyiv Post.

"We've observed that the Russian occupation forces are redeploying additional assault groups, units, weapons and military equipment to the east," the GUR official said.

Russia could launch a new offensive as soon as Feb. 24, exactly a year after it began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov claimed, according to a report by the BBC.

Some 500,000 troops have allegedly been amassed for the expected attack, which could also occur on Feb. 23, Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day.

The poor state of Russian military equipment will force Russia's military command to mass forces and outnumber Ukrainian defenders to make gains, GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov said Wednesday, based on an assessment made by the Institute for the Study of War think tank.

However, Russia will have to concentrate its efforts on seizing the partially occupied provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's east since it does not have sufficient forces to conduct an attack along the entire length of its 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) front line with Ukraine, a military analyst and retired Ukrainian colonel Serhiy Hrabskyi claimed.

There are fears that Russia could once again attempt to take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv by attacking from the territory of Belarus. But Chernyak downplayed the possibility of such a plan.

"As of today, there are no formed strike groups [in Belarus.] There is no threat of Belarus being involved in a full-scale invasion on the side of Russia against Ukraine," he said.

Ukraine and its allies are currently trying to establish a new tank force in time for Russia's potential offensive, the Financial Times reported.

While several nations have pledged to provide Ukraine with tanks, it could take several months for the bulk of the force to be delivered.

Companies of German Leopard 2 and British Challenger 2 tanks are scheduled to arrive in Ukraine at the end of March, Al Jazeera reported.

Meanwhile, it would take "months rather than weeks" for the United States M1 Abrams tanks to reach Ukraine, according to Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

Training for tank crews on repair, maintenance and sustainment units are needed before tanks can be deployed on the battlefield. Logistical support and supply chains also need to be put in place.

A tank crew reportedly requires a minimum of six weeks of basic training. But Ukrainian forces have shown that they can adapt quickly to multiple weapons systems provided by the West.

"Ukrainian soldiers are known as fast learners," Oleksiy Melnyk, the co-director of the Razumkov Centre think tank in Kyiv, said.