The Pentagon estimated that Russia has already sent 11 more battalion tactical groups into Ukraine, additional forces likely to comprise 8,000 to 11,000 soldiers. It also has tens of thousands more in reserve north of Ukraine who are being resupplied and readied to join the fight, U.S. officials said.
An ominous-sounding Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov announced that “Another phase of this operation is starting now,” as it sends fresh soldiers to the invasion front amid reports of its missile and artillery forces had striking hundreds of Ukrainian military targets overnight. Reports by the Pentagon back up this claim, as satellite footage shows multiple strikes in the Donbas region.
Not to be deterred, a brave President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address to his nation:
“A very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech overnight. “No matter how many Russian soldiers are driven there, we will fight.”