Russia preparing troops for large-scale aggression against Ukraine - General Staff

Russia is preparing to carry out large-scale military aggression against Ukraine not only along the contact line in Donbas but also along the entire section of the border, Head of the Main Directorate of Training, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksiy Taran has said in an interview with the Ukrainian Week magazine.
"Russia is preparing for large-scale military aggression. These plans are quite obvious. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, accordingly, are preparing to repel armed aggression along the entire border of Ukraine. This applies not only to the contact line but also to other areas, starting with the border with Belarus and then near Crimea and Bessarabia. Today, we have a sufficient number of trained governing bodies capable of planning and directing troops in these important areas," Taran said.

He noted that at the beginning of the aggression, Ukraine had only four battalion task groups in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which at that time were more or less ready to perform tasks, whereas other forces stayed at places of permanent deployment and were considered to be partially prepared or completely unprepared.

Today, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have almost all military personnel ready to fulfill their tasks, Taran said.

On October 1, members of the Trilateral Contact Group agreed on the disengagement of troops near Zolote and Petrivske in Donbas from October 7. However, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, the disengagement was postponed due to shelling by militants.

The Kremlin, in turn, said that it could not guarantee the withdrawal of militants as part of the disengagement process.