Ukraine says its ready with million-strong army to retake south from Russia

Ukraine has
prepared a one million-strong army to recapture the southern part of the nation
which is currently under Moscow’s control, the country’s defence minister said,
according to the BBC. The army has received arms from NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organization). Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said taking
back the south is critical to Ukraine’s economy.

Reznikov further
said weapon deliveries from NATO need to be sped up. “We need more, quickly, to
save the lives of our soldiers. Each day we’re waiting for howitzers, we can
lose a hundred soldiers,” he said.

“We have
approximately 700,000 in the armed forces and when you add the national guard,
police, border guard, we are around a million-strong,” said the defence
minister.

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The numbers,
however, don’t seem plausible to analysts. Jack Watling, senior research fellow
at the Royal United Services Institute, thinks the figures are exaggerated,
according to his communication with the BBC. “It’s not a million-strong force
that will be conducting a counter-attack,” Watling said.

“Normally you
would want operational surprise when you launch a counter-attack, so announcing
it publicly is about forcing Russians to commit resources more widely to guard
against this threat,” Watling said.

The southern parts
of Ukraine are crucial for the war-ravaged nation both politically and
economically. The announcement, according to analysts, is more intended at
making Moscow forces reorient their strength from eastern Donbas to the south,
thus creating an opportunity for Ukrainian forces to resist in the east.

Russia has been
extending its influence in eastern Donbas. Moscow forces, on Sunday, attacked a
block of flats and killed 22 people.

Meanwhile, Ukraine
has also been investigating Russia for war crimes. More than 21,000 war crimes
have been committed by Russia since the begin of Vladimir Putin’s offensive,
according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. She added that while she knew many trials would be conducted “in absentia”, she stressed it was a question of justice. 

The probe into war crimes began after Ukraine uncovered multiple mass graves in Bucha, Borodyanka and other towns near Ukraine capital Kyiv.