Air strikes, riots and landing in Odessa – date of the Russian attack

Russia has concentrated about one hundred thousand troops near the borders of Ukraine and is preparing an attack early next year. Kirill Budanov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, spoke about this in an interview with the Military Times.

According to him, the attack is planned for late January-early February, and now the Russian side is conducting a number of psychological operations to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and provoke protests, their efforts include protests against COVID vaccination.

“They want to stir up unrest over protests and rallies that show that people are against the government,” Budanov said.

He did not rule out that such an attack is likely to include airstrikes, artillery and armored attacks, followed by airborne attacks in the east, amphibious attacks in Odessa and Mariupol, and a smaller invasion through Belarus.

“The attack that Russia is preparing will be much more destructive than any earlier in the conflict that began in 2014,” Budanov said.

He also said that the Russian military exercises Zapad-21, which took place this year, showed that Russia, for example, can simultaneously deploy up to 3,500 paratroopers and special operations personnel.

“In addition, the Russian Federation is increasing the number of troops and weapons systems in the occupied Crimea, deploying, in particular, Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems and other types of weapons in other places near the border,” he said.

In addition, Budanov said that the Russian Federation is trying to raise anti-government sentiments in Ukraine with the help of the situation with the Wagnerites.

Capture of Ukraine

• Aleksey Arestovich, a representative of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG, previously stated that it is obvious for Ukraine that Russia is building up its military forces near our border and the situation is already reminiscent of the events of early 2014, which ended with the invasion of Donbass and the occupation of Crimea.
• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to refrain from military provocations and plans for a possible attack on Ukraine, as well as to prevent an aggravation of the situation on the border, where a large concentration of troops has been noticed.
• In winter, Russia is likely to try to destabilize Ukraine, using, inter alia, military methods. Writes about this edition of the Financial Times.
• Moscow continues to assure that the redeployment of Russian troops poses no threat to anyone, and Kiev continues to make statements that Russia cannot be trusted.
• On November 11, Bloomberg reported that the United States had warned its European allies about a possible escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. Washington’s assessments are based on information that the American side has, but which has not yet been transferred to the European Union.
• A week earlier, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense announced 90,000 Russian troops at the border. The scouts told which military units of Russia are not far from Ukraine.