All indications are that we are heading steadily towards the start of a massive Russian offensive in Eastern Ukraine in terms of scope and firepower.
London Telegraph sources in the British intelligence service found it necessary to even try to predict the date of the start of the decisive strike by the Russian Armed Forces on January 15, 2024.
The Russians, with the widespread use of commandos, want to pin down significant Ukrainian forces along the entire section of the existing border, especially between the Sumy and Kursk regions.
The Russians have infiltrated into Ukrainian territory to launch massive sabotage
Ukrainian sources report that it is no coincidence that, in addition to the significant forces of local border guards, the Russians have behind them part of the Operational Force Group "Chernigov", as Kiev is forced to maintain two territorial defence brigades (116th and 117th) and two independent infantry battalions ( 15th and 150th) as reinforcements.
Moreover, in the event of a major Russian attack, Russian special forces, which have already carved out safe routes to the Ukrainian rear in this direction, may take it upon themselves to blow up everything, spreading panic and chaos within Ukrainian territories.
A veteran of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, former commander of the 15th Independent Special Forces Brigade, retired Colonel Vladimir Kvachkov, spoke about ways of implementing such plans in the offensive zone.
"The concentration of Russian commandos suggests the preparation of a powerful strike on Kharkiv, for example," he said.
"It seems that something serious is being prepared on the border between the Ukrainian region of Sumy and the Kursk region."
This is the opinion of the head of the Sumy Regional Military Command (SMA), Lieutenant General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vladimir Artyukh.
According to the Ukrainian General, since November, at a distance of 560 kilometers along the forest border of the region with Russia, "there has been a significant intensification of the actions of enemy reconnaissance and sabotage groups".
The Ukrainian General reveals to the Polish website Defense24: "The enemy is systematically infiltrating our territory along the entire length of the border. Russian reconnaissance and sabotage teams are killing people, destroying infrastructure and fighting with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
4-5 months ago such hostile actions were not so intense. And now the enemy is acting as follows: 5-10 people are entering our territory, blowing up infrastructure and killing everyone they find in front of them. These are the Russian special forces.
Russian infiltration operations in Ukraine
Sources in Kiev said that on 9 December contact was lost with a group of six servicemen of the Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
Allegedly, they were sent to change one of the units on the Ukrainian border line, but fell into a trap.
An emergency search was organised along the route. A search was carried out and three kilometres from Russian territory they managed to find six Kalashnikov rifles and special equipment with which the group was equipped. Subsequently, Kiev decided that all six were missing.
They were declared deserters. However, a week later, a video showed all six Ukrainian border guards, alive and well, addressing their colleagues: "We are border guards of the fourth border post. They think we are deserters. But in reality we were captured through our own negligence. The Russians did not kill us, they took pity on us.
We have many such incidents in many areas.
According to Ukrainian sources published by the Polish website, at least one more group of Russian special forces tried to enter the Ukrainian rear in the Sumy region a few days later.
In another video we have the blowing up of a major bridge on the Sundost River near the village of Gremiyakh in the Chernigov region.
Polish experts are sure that Russian special forces, as a rule, go on combat missions in small groups of 4-5 "commandos".
Less often, in special cases, combat detachments of 10 or even 16 Russian commandos are sent behind enemy lines. They have at their disposal the most modern weapons and special equipment.
Including, "sound silencers for all types of weapons, including machine guns. This allows them to act as quietly and covertly as possible even in contact fire situations, especially at night."
The same sources note that until the second half of November 2023, in this part of the state border, in the zone of responsibility of the Operational Group of Forces "Chernigov" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, there were systematic reconnaissance and sabotage activities by the Russian 2nd Independent Guard Brigade, which arrived in the Kursk and Belgorod regions from St. Petersburg.
The same unit about two months ago joined elite Russian reconnaissance teams of several special forces units for a number of operations.
All indications are that the Russians are paving the way for their motorized units, and their infantry, from as safe a position as possible during the expected ground attack in the next few months, whenever that may be, because attacks are never announced.
