Russians Will Advance On Kharkiv To Cut It Off From Kyiv - Kharkiv Garrison Head Melnyk

Russian troops will go on the offensive in the Kharkiv direction as soon as the ground freezes.

The head of the Kharkiv garrison, Brigadier General Serhii Melnyk announced this in an interview with the Dutch publication Nos on Tuesday, January 3.

Melnyk noted that the reconnaissance groups of the invaders in the number of ten to twenty soldiers are already crossing the Ukrainian border for reconnaissance and sabotage, and are going to advance as soon as the frost sets in. The Brigadier General explained that the Russians would try to cut Kharkiv from Kyiv so that Ukrainian troops in the Donbas could not move west to help the capital.

"The Russians will also attack west, towards a city like Rivne, which is located between Kyiv and the Polish border. The goal would be to stop the supply of Western weapons," the publication quotes Melnyk.

At the same time, the head of the Kharkiv garrison believes that Putin can collect more than 200 thousand mobilized for a new offensive against Ukraine, but they will be poorly armed and poorly trained.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 3, the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the Russian occupiers this year could simultaneously go on a new offensive from the north or east.

In addition, over the next 4-5 months, the Russian army may lose up to 70,000 people.

At the same time, the offensive of the Russian invaders near Bakhmut, Donetsk Region, has already choked.