After a harsh winter of Russian attacks and after more than a year of war, Ukraine is preparing a next counteroffensive in the occupied territories which seems to take place this spring as soon as arrive more military material.

The information about a counterattack in spring It has circulated several times. Several representatives of the Ukrainian government and army have announced in recent weeks that Ukraine is preparing such a counteroffensive to recapture territories conquered by Russia. But the latest movements of the Ukrainian government show that it could be closer than expected. Because Ukraine has called on the citizens of the territories busy to leave the area.

The Ukrainian Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, Iryna Vereshchuk, has called on Ukrainian citizens from the areas of the country under Russian control to try to leave as soon as possible through “third countries”.

“I advise the Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories to go to third countries or prepare: you know what you have to do,” Vereshchuk said on his Telegram channel. “The main thing is to protect yourselves and the children,” the minister added.

Vereshchuk also said that part of the leaders appointed by Russia in the occupied areas of eastern and southern Ukraine have begun to prepare their departure from these territories. “It would be good if they took the collaborationists with them,” said the Ukrainian politician.

According to Ukrainian media, Vereshchuk’s appeal seeks that Ukrainian citizens living in these areas be safe in the face of the foreseeable intensification of fighting when this counteroffensive begins, which will try to recover territory after a long winter in which Rusia has shown significant attrition.

40,000 new military volunteers

The counteroffensive depends on the arrival of the promised supplies from western countries. As for human resources, it has already been launched. As published by the Reuters agency on Wednesday, Ukraine has trained eight new attack brigades that total 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

This strong recruitment has been achieved after a aggressive social media campaign and billboards with the aim of attracting volunteers. The new brigades, designed by the Interior Ministry, will fight alongside regular army units reinforced by new Western main battle tanks and troops trained by allied armies outside Ukraine, such as Spain.

To make matters more epic, the so-called ‘storm brigades’ (storm brigades) brigades have catchy names: Hurricane, Spartan, ChervonaKalyna, Frontier, Rage, Azov and Kara Dag, a mountain in Crimea.

This call comes on the day that the president, Volodimir Zelensky, is visiting Poland, the first since the war began. There he is to meet his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, and the country’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, after which he will deliver a public speech.

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