Russia prepares numerous tanks, armoured vehicles, fighter jets for offensive in Ukraine

Russian Armed Forces have prepared 1,800 tanks, 3,950 armoured vehicles, 2,700 artillery systems, 810 multiple-rocket-launch systems, 400 fighter jets, and 300 helicopters ready for a new offensive operation in Ukraine. 

"Russia has also begun arming up and digging in for a coming offensive. The Ukrainian military estimates that Russia already has 1,800 tanks, 3,950 armoured vehicles, 2,700 artillery systems, 810 Soviet-era multiple-rocket-launch systems such as Grad and Smerch, 400 fighter jets, and 300 helicopters ready for a new wave of attacks," Foreign Policy quotes an unnamed Ukrainian military official as saying.

Ukrainian officials estimate that Russian forces inside the country have surpassed the 300,000 mark. 

Estimates of Russia’s presence in Ukraine are significantly higher than the invading force that Russian President Vladimir Putin used to invade the country last February — and this time, they are highly concentrated in eastern Ukraine.

The US Department of Defense has described the Russian troops that have already been rushed to the battlefield to plug up defensive holes as "ill-equipped, ill-trained, rushed," according to a senior US military official.

The Pentagon believes that the Kremlin has begun sending in tens of thousands of troops to replace losses suffered from ongoing battles in the cities of Bakhmut and Soledar, but Kyiv believes that Putin could go even further, drafting more new troops around the 24 February anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

"It’s much bigger than what took place in the first wave," the Ukrainian military official said. "They are not paying attention to any casualties or losses."

"In the next 10 days, we expect a new, huge invasion," he said. 

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that he expected a surge in Russian operations around the upcoming anniversary of the invasion on 24 February.

Analysts and Ukrainian officials expect the brewing offensive to focus on eastern Ukraine.

The US and Western officials now estimate that about 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in battle. 

Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defence Minister, has stated that the country's defence forces expect Russian offensive operations before the symbolic date of 24 February, when the full-scale invasion began; however, he urged people to trust only official information.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Russians want to try to recoup last year's failures in February, but Ukraine must survive.

The Financial Times, with reference to an unnamed adviser to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has reported that Russia plans to launch a new large-scale offensive within the next 10 days.