Ukraine aims to amass 'million-strong army' to recapture south, says defence minister
Ukraine plans a "million-strong army" equipped with Nato weapons to retake the south of the country from occupying Russians, the defence minister says.
Retaking the areas around the Black Sea coast was vital to the country's economy, Oleksii Reznikov said, reports BBC.
The defence minister's remarks come as Russia makes progress in taking territory in the eastern Donbas region.
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An attack on a block of flats on Sunday killed at least 18 people - with more than 20 feared buried under the rubble.
Rescuers are still looking for survivors at the site of the five-storey building in Chasiv Yar, near the city of Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region which has been the focus of a Russian push.
However, Dr Jack Watling, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, cautioned against the figure.
"It's not a million-strong force that will be conducting a counter-attack," Mr Watling told the BBC.
"Normally you would want operational surprise when you launch a counter-attack, so announcing it publicly is partly about forcing the Russians to have to commit resources more widely to guard against this threat."
