Russian troops waiting for favorable weather for assault on Chasiv Yar - military

This opinion was expressed on national television by the spokesman for the Luhansk grouping of troops, Dmytro Zaporozhets, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Most likely, (the enemy - ed.) is waiting for some weather conditions, whether it's rain, or maybe fog, or rain with fog, in order to actively conduct assault attempts in the direction of Chasiv Yar. It is highly likely that a mechanized assault will target the Chasiv Yar sector," Zaporozhets said.

According to the official, signs confirming that outlook include daily high-intensity artillery strikes. "Aweek ago there were 150 to 180 strikes, and now it’s already 200 to 264, as it’s the case in Toretsk - this is the scale of artillery fire the enemy directed at the positions of our Defense Forces. Drone reconnaissance is also actively underway. Over the past day, about 21 recon drones have been in the air throughout the operational zone, but the largest number is in the Chasiv Yar and Toretsk axes. Also, the enemy is not actively communicating on radio frequencies, which may also suggest they have amassed some forces and may try to go on assault missions," Zaporozhets said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Zaporozhets previously said Russian invaders are exploiting civilians in the occupied territories in the Toretsk and Chasiv Yar areas to retrieve the bodies of their soldiers, killed in action, from the battlefield.