Russian Military Column Spotted Heading to Zaporizhzhia from Crimea - Partisans

The Ukrainian Atesh partisan movement has reported tracking a column of Russian military vehicles moving north through Crimea. According to a post on its Telegram channel on Thursday, Dec 12, the column was likely heading toward the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, where Moscow is preparing to intensify its offensive operations.

“The column included a significant number of armored vehicles, including tanks, BMPs, and APCs, as well as military tractors and trucks,” the partisans wrote.

Additionally, Atesh said, “All the information we have gathered has already been passed on as intended. We know where and how to stop this equipment from reaching mainland Ukraine!”

Last week Kyiv Post reported that the Kremlin is attempting to use an increase in offensive action in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, along with the use of the Oreshnik ballistic missile, to raise the stakes and as a bargaining tool for future negotiations. This was stated by the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Kovalenko, on Friday, Dec 6, in commnets on remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with American blogger and host Tucker Carlson.

“Putinists are trying to inflate and present the threat to the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions as a condition for negotiation, making it believable to the US. This nonsense was voiced by Lavrov in his interview with Tucker Carlson, while the Russian army conducts mock crossings of the Dnipro River during exercises and prepares for active operations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions,” Kovalenko stated on his Telegram channel.

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In their strategy to raise the stakes, the Russians are attempting to “bargain” with threats: “The same way they did with the Oreshnik [nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile] case,” Kovalenko added.