Kremlin officials plan 'bomb shelter upgrades across Russia' as Putin prepares new Ukraine offensive: report

07 February 2023

Almost a year has passed since Russian forces, on orders from President Vladimir Putin, launched a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The war has inflicted considerable hardship in Ukraine, yet things have not gone as Putin anticipated. Ukraine’s military was much better prepared than Putin expected, and sanctions imposed by President Joe Biden and his NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies in Europe have brought pain to the Russian economy.

But despite all that, Putin and his loyalists in the Kremlin are obviously determined to keep the war going. And according to Daily Beast reporter Shannon Vavra, the Kremlin has “quietly ordered an upgrade to bomb shelters across Russia.”

Vavra, in an article published by the Beast on February 6, notes that “four former and current Russian officials” confirmed these bomb shelter plans during interviews with the Moscow Times. One of the officials, quoted anonymously, told the Times, “An order was given from Moscow to carry out this work everywhere — inspection and repair.”

Vavra reports, “Local authorities have reportedly spent hundreds of millions of rubles on the bomb shelter preparations, which allegedly began in February 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. The preparations will reportedly continue this year. And although, in some regions, authorities have installed signs near the shelters, some authorities have sought to downplay the updates in an apparent attempt to avoid causing panic.”

The Daily Beast journalist adds that the Kremlin is getting ready to “mobilize 300,000 to 500,000 additional troops” for “offensive operations” in “both the south and east of Ukraine.” And Vavra quotes a representative for Vadim Skibitskyi, Russia’s intelligence agency, as saying, “This is another obvious sign that Putin's Kremlin has no intention of ending the war.”

Vavra also notes that “there are other indications that Russia is preparing for more action in Ukraine.”

“Satellite imagery analysis shared exclusively with The Daily Beast last month showed Russia is preparing to be on defense in Ukraine,” Vavra explains. “The imagery shows Russia has been building fortifications, such as trenches and dragon’s teeth, throughout eastern Ukraine in an apparent attempt to prepare for a Ukrainian counteroffensive and hold onto seized Ukrainian territory.”

Read the Daily Beast’s full article at this link.

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