The head of the administration established by the Russians in the Donetsk region, Denys Pushylin, said on Monday that separatist forces have noticed the “activation” of Ukrainian troops along the entire line of contact on this part of the front, TASS reports.

“We are seeing activation on the touchline, but it is not yet the counter-attack that has been talked about a lot. We see that the enemy is trying to check our positions, is trying to conduct combat reconnaissance in separate areas,” he said in an interview on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

“We had to prepare for this and, of course, we are ready,” Pusilin assured.

Rumors have been circulating for several months that the long-awaited Ukrainian offensive is imminent, but if Kyiv does not launch it in the next two weeks, the initially “spring” counteroffensive will turn into a summer one.

At the end of April, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine has the military potential necessary to take back its territory, and also announced that its Western partners have delivered almost all the promised combat vehicles.

“In total, we have trained and equipped more than 9 new Ukrainian armored brigades, which will provide Ukraine with a strong position to continue the return of the occupied territories. [de Rusia]”, he also informed.

Ukrainian offensive: so far a lot of talk and little action

A few days later, Yevgeny Prygozhin, head of mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC, complained that the Ukrainian offensive could become a “tragedy for Russia” because of the ammunition situation at the front.

Prigozhin, who blamed the Russian military for a lack of ammunition, said he expected a counteroffensive from Ukraine in mid-May. “This counteroffensive could become a tragedy for our country,” he warned.

But at the beginning of May, the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Moscow tried to trick Kyiv into launching a counteroffensive sooner with the help of a cynical strategy aimed at the civilian population of Ukraine.

Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak warned that Russian troops have again begun to attack Ukrainian cities en masse in order to provoke a rapid counteroffensive, so that Kyiv’s forces will not be sufficiently prepared for this.

He also noted that with these attacks, Moscow is also trying to influence the residents of Western countries, who, under the impression of the murders of peaceful Ukrainian citizens, may begin to demand urgent negotiations.

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