SIMFEROPOL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2023) Ukraine has concentrated its forces at the forefront to launch a counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia Region, Vladimir Rogov, a senior official of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration, told Sputnik on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Rogov said that Russian troops had repelled an offensive by Ukrainian forces near the city of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia Region.
"The enemy has accumulated enough forces on the front line to launch a counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia Region. Their tactic is to conduct reconnaissance operations in order to break through our first line of defense, and then use the main forces for a breakthrough and a full-scale offensive," Rogov said.
Russian troops are well aware of Ukraine's plans, according to which the city of Tokmak could become one of the main directions of the counteroffensive, the official told Sputnik.
At the same time, Rogov noted that Ukraine's counteroffensive in the Zaporizhzhia Region could become "the beginning of the end for the existence of the entire Kiev regime."
The Ukrainian government has been planning a major counteroffensive against Russia for several months. Ukrainian and Western military experts have repeatedly called the Zaporizhzhia Region one of Kiev's main targets, as it would open the access to the Azov Sea and cut off the land corridor to Crimea.
Russia has considered the Zaporizhzhia Region to be part of its territory since September 30, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the region signed an agreement on its accession to the country, following a referendum in which an overwhelming majority of the local population supported becoming part of Russia.
Around 70% of the region is currently controlled by Russia, but Ukrainian troops are still holding the region's capital and biggest city, Zaporizhzhia.
