Russia Prepares to Launch Counteroffensive Towards Kyiv: CNN

Russian military forces are deploying additional troops to the southern flank, strengthening positions in Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, CNN reports, citing messages from Ukrainian officials and videos posted on social media.

Journalists from the publication have confirmed their geographical positioning, including recent footage showing military columns moving through Crimea and Kherson. Other videos depict columns being sent from Krasnodar through the Kerch Strait to Crimea.

Several posts on Ukrainian social media mention the movement of heavy military equipment by train or blockages of highways in the Crimean peninsula and the Kherson region. According to Meduza, these actions may be aimed at countering a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.

While the press services of Ukraine's General Staff and the Southern Operational Command declined to comment, the representative office of Ukraine in Crimea (physically located in Kyiv) stated that “the movement of military equipment, ammunition, and personnel of the Russian army continues across the entire occupied territory of the Crimean peninsula.”

“Every day, about 50 wagons of Russian military equipment are moving towards Dzhankoy, and lines of military equipment are also observed near the administrative border of occupied Crimea, close to the settlements of Armyansk and Krasnopererekopsk,” the representative office said in a Facebook post.

Analysts speculate that such movement of heavy equipment may occur in areas controlled by Russia in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in preparation for a Ukrainian counteroffensive. The U.S. Institute for the Study of War noted in its daily update on Monday that “Russian troops continue to strengthen their positions in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.”