A resident walks near a damaged Russian tank in the northeastern city of Trostianets on Wednesday
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Thursday that his troops would fight for “every metre of our land” as he braced his nation for a Russian onslaught in the eastern Donbas region.
He stressed that Vladimir Putin’s troops were massing for new attacks on the region which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk areas held by Moscow-backed separatists.
The Russian president is believed to be focusing his war efforts on the Donbas, including by deploying his “private” Wagner army of more than 1,000 mercenaries, after his lightning invasion plan to seize Kyiv within days failed.
“There is an accumulation of Russian troops for new strikes in Donbas. And we are preparing for this,” said Mr Zelensky.
“We will not give up anything. And we will fight for every metre of our land, for every person.”
He also poured a large dose of scepticism on a Kremlin statement that it would radically scale back operations around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv as part of moves to build trust towards a peace agreement.
“We do not believe anyone - we do not trust any beautiful verbal constructions,” he said.
British defence chiefs also warned that the suburbs of the capital are likely to be hit with “heavy fighting” within days between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
In its latest intelligence briefing, the Ministry of Defence stressed: “Russian forces continue to hold positions to the east and west of Kyiv despite the withdrawal of a limited number of units. Heavy fighting will likely take place in the suburbs of the city in coming days.
“Despite Russian statements indicating an intended reduction of military activity around Chernihiv, significant Russian shelling and missile strikes have continued.”
It added: “Heavy fighting continues in Mariupol, a key objective of Russian forces, however Ukrainian forces remain in control of the centre of the city.”
There were also reports of fresh fighting around the town of Irpin, near Kyiv.
In an early morning video address, Mr Zelensky highlighted Russian troop movements away from Kyiv and Chernihiv and said that was not a withdrawal but rather “the consequence of our defenders’ work”.
He also warned that Ukraine is seeing “a build-up of Russian forces for new strikes on the Donbas and we are preparing for that”.
Some Russian units, which have seen many soldiers killed, are reported to have pulled back into Belarus and Russia to resupply and reorganise and are expected to be redeployed into eastern Ukraine.
Russia says its forces are regrouping to focus on “liberating” the eastern Donbas region which includes the two areas of Donetsk and Luhansk which are controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.
More than 1,000 mercenaries from Vladimir Putin’s “private” Wagner army are also being sent into the east of Ukraine, according to British defence chiefs.
But Sir Jeremy Fleming, head of the spy listening GCHQ centre, stressed in a speech in Australia: “These soldiers are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit Russian military losses.”
More than 10,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, according to some reports, but Mr Putin’s Kremlin aides are believed to be so terrified of him that they are keeping him in the dark about the full truth on how badly the war is going.
The leader of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”, Denis Pushilin, said on Wednesday that offensive operations were intensifying.
Donetsk includes the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has seen some of the war’s heaviest fighting and bombardment and where about 170,000 people are trapped with scarce food and water.
Some people are believed to have starved to death.
Russian forces have taken half of the strategic port city on the Azov Sea, an adviser to Mr Zelensky said on Wednesday.
Russia’s defence ministry said it was prepared to observe a ceasefire in Mariupol on Thursday, Russian news agencies reported.
Kyiv has accused Russia of not fully respecting earlier such commitments.
Moscow denies targeting civilians but that flies in the face of numerous reports and footage of atrocities being carried out by Russian forces.
Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of civilians are believed to have been killed since the invasion started on February 24.
Peace talks will resume online on Friday but neither Ukraine nor Russia expect a quick resolution.
