Putin Orders Gerasimov To Seize Donbas By March - Defense Intelligence

Russian President Vladimir Putin set the commander of the occupation forces in Ukraine Valery Gerasimov the task of capturing the Donbas by March.

The representative of the press service of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Yusov announced this on the air of the FREEDOM television channel on Monday, January 16.

Yusov stressed that Putin is preparing Russia for a protracted war against Ukraine after the failure to quickly occupy the state. The dictator does not take into account reality and did not abandon plans to destroy Ukraine as an independent state, and Ukrainians - as a nation, said the representative of the Defense Intelligence.

"Still, we can talk about the priority direction for the rashists - this is the Donbas. The next terms, which he defines already for Gerasimov, say, as the new leader of the war against Ukraine, and Gerasimov lowers these goals further - this is the goal of capturing the Donbas and forming a certain security zone there by March," Yusov said.

Also, the intelligence representative noted that this is not the first terms that Putin sets for his occupation troops, and that every time they are postponed, but it has been a year as they are "taking Kyiv in three days," so nothing will work, Yusov emphasized.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 11, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov became the commander of the occupation forces in Ukraine, and General Sergei Surovikin was harassed to his deputy.

On January 14, the Defence Intelligence reported that Russia was preparing for a long-term war and was moving the economy to "military rails."

On January 16, a report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the Russian occupiers could try to launch a major new offensive.

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