Intelligence reports number of Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions
Ukrainian intelligence does not record the withdrawal of Russian troops from the temporarily occupied districts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions; the invaders have concentrated 152,000 personnel there and are preparing for defense.
Andriy Chernyak, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, told RBC-Ukraine in a commentary, according to Ukrinform.
"We do not record any withdrawal of troops in the Zaporizhzhia or Kherson regions. Yes, there is some movement - they are taking out something, evacuating someone, trying to steal something, but we do not see any real withdrawal of combat units. For example, Enerhodar - they are not leaving there, but they are taking everything they can steal, take away: cars, equipment from hospitals. They clearly realize that there will be fighting there," noted Chernyak.
According to him, in the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region, Russians are preparing for defense, strengthening existing fortifications and building new ones.
"The enemy realizes that they have absolutely no strength left for any active offensive. The only task they face is to hold the positions they have now. Any further offensive is absolutely out of the question," emphasized Chernyak.
According to him, this can be seen even in the statement of Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov, who recently said that Russia is not at war. And this is a message that is already being spread both among Russian propaganda and among their troops, Chernyak said.
"In the occupied part of the Kherson region, we observe the same processes. The personnel remains there. They will defend themselves, they are building defensive structures there," added Chernyak.
In total, according to him, the Russians have concentrated about 152 thousand personnel in the occupied territories of these two regions.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the number of cases of looting and theft committed by Russian soldiers has significantly increased in the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.