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Ukrainian Brigadier General Denys Prokopenko warns Russia may mobilize up to 600,000 troops for its next offensive. The commander, who took charge of the Azov grouping in Donetsk after surviving Russian captivity, says covert recruitment is already underway and open mobilization could begin after Russia's elections in late September or early winter.

Prokopenko, commanding one of Ukraine's forces on the Donetsk front, expects the Russian mobilization to double the previously reported 300,000 figure. This massive mobilization aims to help Russia achieve its goal of seizing all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Prokopenko foresees Russia targeting several cities in Donbas, such as Dobropillia, Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, and Sviatohirsk, to use as a springboard.

He also warns of a potential second front in the north, with reserve forces ready to be deployed in Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts to create a buffer zone and prevent Ukraine from sending troops east. Prokopenko predicts a shift in tactics from small infantry-group operations to heavy armored vehicle mechanized breakthroughs during the October campaign, which he believes will fail once again.