Russian TV Alarmed by Ukraine's Pending Counteroffensive

Russian state TV hosts and guests in a recent segment seemed worried about Ukraine's pending counteroffensive, stressing that Russian troops should continue to prepare for Kyiv's attacks amid Russia's ongoing war with the Eastern European country.

Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, posted to Twitter on Friday the clip of the Russian state TV segment with English subtitles, and wrote that Russia "worrying about Ukrainian counteroffensive now seems to be a regular installment on Russian propaganda shows."

The battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces has extended to major cities since the war began last February, including in Kyiv, Odessa, Kherson, and Bakhmut, the latter of which has seen months-long of intense fighting. Meanwhile, Western nations continue to send military aid to Ukraine, including tanks, artillery, and advanced military equipment to help the war-torn country prepare for its spring counteroffensive.

Still, Russian forces based along southern and eastern Ukraine have been maintaining and advancing their positions ahead of Kyiv's counteroffensive, according to Denis Pushilin, a Russian politician and the acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic.

"The enemy continues to saturate the line of contact with reconnaissance assets, modern drones not commercial Chinese drones, but military drones from various countries, and Ukrainian drones with good cameras often appear," a Russian TV guest said during the televised segment.

The Russian TV guest continued: "The enemy is saturating the line of contact with electronic warfare and electronic suppression, as well as with reconnaissance equipment. This is also a sign that the Kyiv regime is actively preparing for counter-offensive actions. All in all, it is alarming along the entire line of contact."

Later on during the segment, a TV host warned Russian troops against relaxing because Ukrainian forces are "colossal for the current times," adding that weaponry provided by the West is a "deadly danger" to Russian soldiers and civilians.

"And even based on the political conjuncture that is taking place, they will, of course, attack," the host predicted. "We don't know which way or where. We [Russia] are preparing, but the main thing for us now is not to make the mistakes that we obviously made in the autumn. And in this sense, we are not waiting, we are preparing. We should not relax because there is a lot at stake."

The Russian military situation has been "tense" in combat hotpots in the Donetsk area, Pushilin told the state-owned Rossiya-24 television channel on Thursday.

"The Ugledar area remains tense," Pushilin said, according to Russian news agency TASS, using the Russian name of the Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, where intense fighting has been recently reported. "The enemy has been making sporadic attempts to counterattack in the effort to improve their positions...but our units have been advancing anyway."

"The situation remains tense, but it is fully under control," he added.

Russian troops also advanced around Bakhmut and cut the last route available for the resupply of Ukrainian troops who are still battling in the city, according to Pushilin.

Newsweek reached out by email to the Russian defense ministry for comment.