US Official Says Russia Reinforcing And Resupplying Troops In Donbas, Starting New Offensive?

Illustration of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

JAKARTA - A senior United States defense official said Russian troops are believed to have started strengthening and resupplying troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday thousands of Russian troops had gathered for a new offensive in the east. Meanwhile, Russia has said it will not stop its military operations in Ukraine for further peace talks.

Despite supply efforts in the Donbas, the United States does not believe this is the start of a new offensive in the region, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We believe that this is an attempt to reinforce and resupply their troops in Donbas, they are still north of Izyum," the official told reporters, referring to a town about 180 km (112 miles) north of Donetsk City.

The Russian vehicles sent to the region included command and control elements, as well as support personnel for aircraft and infantry units, the official said.

Last week, Russia completed its withdrawal from around Kyiv and has sent some troops to Belarus, for repairs and resupply.

The official said there was evidence that some of the troops in Belarus were moving east. Russia still has most of its battalion tactical groups in Ukraine, including more than 55 groups in the south.

Regarding the claim of the Russian Ministry of Defense which said the missile, which was launched from the Russian sea on Sunday, destroyed the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system that had been supplied to Ukraine by a European country.

The official said the United States had seen airstrikes on the Dnipro airfield destroying some infrastructure, but had no evidence that the S-300 missile defense system had been destroyed by Russia.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to a small number of Ukrainian soldiers who had been in the United States for military education when the Russian invasion began.

The troops were trained on Switchblade drones while they were in the United States and are due to return to Ukraine on Sunday.

The official is not aware of any current plans to bring Ukrainian troops to the United States for training, but Washington is looking into different options on how Ukrainians can be trained to use the type of drone.