The Russians Have Saved Up Thousands of Tanks. They're About to Attack in Eastern Ukraine.

Russian regiments may shift back to armored assaults in a bid to capture the east.

A 70th Motor Rifle Division tank in late 2023. Via social media

Russian regiments have deployed very few armored vehicles in Ukraine this year. The Russians’ main offensives—in Sumy Oblast in the north, around Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast in the northeast and around Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast in the east—have all been carried out by small teams of infantry marching on foot or riding on motorcycles.

The next offensive could be different, however: it may be led by tanks. This offensive “will be bigger, bloodier and focused on Donetsk Oblast,” Finnish analyst Joni Askola warned.

In an ominous sign of the coming clash, tens of thousands of Russian reinforcements are surging toward Pokrovsk. They include marines and paratroopers diverted from Sumy as well as the soldiers of the 70th Motor Rifle Division, diverted from Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine.

The 70th MRD is bringing its T-90 and T-72 tanks and other armored vehicles—as are other formations. Analyst Unit Observer clocked the tanks on heavylift trucks winding their way from Kherson to Donetsk.

The reinforcements may help stabilize what little is left of a nine-mile salient Russian infiltrators carved northeast of Pokrovsk a month ago. After that, they’re likely launch a major mechanized assault on Pokrovsk, the last urban stronghold between the 700,000-strong Russian force in Ukraine and the “fortress belt” of eastern cities stretching from Kramatorsk to Sloviansk.