Russia has prepared hundreds of large units in eastern Ukraine for a future offensive, former US Pentagon adviser Colonel Douglas McGregor said. The Russian army has been on the defensive for months and is now ready to launch an offensive in the western direction. This is bad news for the United States, the colonel said.
Nothing can stop the Russian units and they will attack, Douglas McGregor said on Judging Freedom YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is working on its own plan for an offensive in October. On September 29, it was said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had agreed the plan with the United States and Great Britain.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine intend to launch an offensive in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia directions. A large group of Ukrainian marines was deployed in the Mykolaiv region to cross the Dnieper River. In addition, Ukrainian special forces trained by British instructors plan to seize the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
A source who spoke about the plan called it an adventure as Zelensky is thus trying to prove it to the West that he is worth it. At the same time, his plan may lead to tragic consequences, the source said.
Kherson region Governor Vladimir Saldo believes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will try to create tensions on the front line although they have no chance for success.
The head of the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin also admitted that Ukraine could launch a new offensive against the Russian forces in October.
Rustem Nimetullaev, the head of the Committee on National Policy and Interregional Relations of the Kherson Regional Duma, said that Zelensky's plan was doomed to failure.
State Duma deputy from Crimea Mikhail Sheremet believes that Ukraine's new counter-offensive plan is suicidal.
Military expert Roman Nasonov believes that the Ukrainian authorities are preparing a new offensive in October in order to extend the assistance from Western countries. Cold weather is setting in, leaves are falling, so the time for the offensive does not seem to be the right one, the expert said.
"What are they expecting? They want economic support in the first place. There is no chance for success on the battlefield,” the expert said.