NSDC says two scenarios in Donbas: attack by Russia and full-scale war, or prolonged Donbas conflict
Due to Russian arms being delivered to militants, and the concentration of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border, authorities are considering two main military scenarios, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov has said.
"Two main scenarios are possible. The first one is the enemy turning to full-scale military actions and advancing with the active participation of Russian armed forces. It might lead to a full-scale continental war," Turchynov said in the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday.
"The second scenario foresees the Kremlin's attempts not to allow stabilization of the situation in Ukraine, activation of terrorist activity, and turning the confrontation into a longstanding military conflict [aimed at] exhausting economic, military, moral and psychological potential of Ukraine to create the grounds to realize their goal – to destroy Ukraine's nationhood and independence," he added.
Turchynov noted that according to Ukrainian government information, there were over 36,000 militants in the occupied parts of Donbas with a considerable number of arms and equipment. In addition, 8,500 of them are Russian regular troops.
He added that there were nearly 52,000 Russian soldiers, over 300 tanks, over 1,800 armored vehicles, over 750 artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems, and up to 360 military planes and helicopters massed near Ukraine's eastern border with Russia.
