Ukraine warned today Russia was preparing for a “maximum escalation” of the war as Kiev prepares for Moscow’s long-awaited three-pronged offensive in the spring.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Vladimir Putin may be planning another simultaneous attack on the country from the north, south and east on February 24 to coincide with the anniversary of the beginning of the war.
Danilov warned that the bloodiest battles were “yet to come” and would take place within months, at a “decisive” moment in the war.
He told Sky News: “Russia is preparing for maximum escalation. It collects all kinds of stuff, does exercises and exercises.
Oleksiy Danilov (pictured), secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Vladimir Putin could plan another simultaneous attack on the country from the north, south and east on February 24, which coincides with the anniversary of the beginning of the war.
Ukrainian soldiers change a 60 mm mortar shell near the front line in the Donetsk region on Tuesday
Ukrainian soldier Myroslav, 23, walks in a trench near a front line in the Donetsk region on Tuesday
“If it comes to an offensive from different directions like now, I can say that we do not rule out a scenario in the next two to three weeks.”
Russia is expected to have launched a full-scale attack, deploying troops south of Belarus, north of Crimea and east of the Donbass to encircle and strangle Kiev’s forces.
Danilov said Putin could launch his three-pronged offensive against Ukraine on the February 24 anniversary of the war. “We understand everything is on the table,” he said.
Speaking about whether the worst is yet to come on the battlefield, Danilov said: “Of course we are going through a long difficult period, but I am aware that the most important battles are yet to come and in two to two years this year.three months.
“These will be decisive months of the war. We have our own plans and that is clear to us. They are not hidden from our most important partners.’
His comments came after Ukraine’s top general Valery Zaluzhny told The Economist last month that Russia was preparing 200,000 new troops for a major offensive that could come from the east, south or even Belarus in the spring.
Russian army soldiers train at a military training ground in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday.
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While Germany, the US and other Western countries, including the UK, have announced plans to send fourth-generation main battle tanks to Ukraine, they will take months to arrive.
The trial could even leave Ukraine stranded without high-tech weapons until Moscow begins its long-awaited three-pronged offensive in the spring.
The US does not even have a ready stock of M1 Abrams tanks for delivery and needs to procure part of its fleet, while German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said that its Leopard 2 tanks will not arrive until late March or early April will be ready.
Military analysts say more aid is crucial if Ukraine is to stop an expected Russian spring offensive and mount its own efforts to push back Russian troops.
But Danilov is sure that Ukraine will win the war. “We are definitely going to win because we have all the support in the world behind us,” he said.
Meanwhile, one of Russia’s top spies predicted on Wednesday that the NATO military alliance will not inflict a “strategic defeat” on Moscow despite sending billions of dollars worth of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine.
Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency SWR and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, accused NATO of raising the bar in the conflict by providing Kyiv with more advanced weapons.
“NATO is upping the ante because it still dreams of a strategic defeat against Russia,” Naryshkin said in a televised interview with the state-run RIA news agency released on Wednesday. “But that’s not going to happen.”
His comments come as the United States prepares its latest military aid package to Ukraine, worth about $2 billion.
The delivery is said to include missiles with a range of up to 150 kilometers for the first time.
Washington has previously been reluctant to provide Kiev with such long-range weapons, apparently out of fear that they could be used in attacks on Russia itself, which could bring Moscow and NATO closer to the brink of direct conflict.
Criticizing Washington’s recent military aid pledges, Naryshkin said Moscow “has taken note of the expansion in both the volume and scope of military equipment provided.”
He said the United States and its allies were “determined to go to war with Russia to the last Ukrainian.”
Following pledges by the United States, Germany and several other European countries to supply dozens of tanks to Ukraine, Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, its NATO allies accused of playing a more active role in the war.
Kiev and the West say military stockpiles are essential to help defend Ukraine against what it says is an illegal war of aggression by Russia, which deployed tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last February and called it a “military special operation.” . .’
Meanwhile, frontline Russian troops are making increasing progress in their bid to seize territory in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province, focusing on the town of Bakhmut, north of the region’s capital.
But the Ukrainian military today released footage of its troops launching an artillery strike against a Russian command post and ammunition depot near Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian army tweeted: “The gunners of the 28th brigade, together with the aerial reconnaissance of the 4th brigade of the National Guard, destroyed the command post and the ammunition depot of the occupiers.”
After President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government finally convinced NATO countries to provide the modern battle tanks, it is now lobbying some of Ukraine’s neighbors and Western allies to provide combat aircraft.
A Russian army soldier shoots as an instructor stands nearby during training at a military training ground in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region on Tuesday
After meeting Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in Paris, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said there was no taboo on supplying Kiev with fighter jets.
The United States and Britain have so far rejected the idea, but have reiterated their willingness to continue supporting Ukraine militarily.
The West has so far refused to send weapons that could be used in an attack deep inside Russia, fearing a wider conflict, although Moscow has condemned the West’s recent pledges of weapons as a provocation.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces came under renewed fire in Bakhmut, as well as the towns of Klishchiivka and Kurdyumivka at the southern entrance to the city, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement Tuesday evening.
Bakhmut suffered months of relentless bombardment as Russian forces used the same devastating tactics they used in June and July to take two cities further north – Sievierodonetsk and Lysyhansk.
Russian troops made no progress on Tuesday in their efforts to advance on Avdiivka, the second focus of Russian attacks in the Donetsk region, the Kyiv military general staff said.
Russian forces were also trying to advance near Lyman, a town further north in the Donetsk region that was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in October, the military said.
Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said on YouTube that Russian forces in the region were regrouping and bringing in conscripts in what he called a “truck of death.”
“We are doing as much damage as possible and they are being forced to deploy new troops to continue the continuous attacks on our forces,” he said.
“Conscripts cannot keep up with the pace of previous attacks… Their physical abilities are not up to the task and their motivation is much weaker.”
Russia pushed further west into Donetsk, shelling the town of Vuhledar and half a dozen other towns and villages, the Ukrainian military said. Vuhledar is about 148 km southeast of the main battles in and around Bakhmut.
Britain’s MoD said the Russian force in the new Vuhledar attack was at least the size of a brigade, a unit usually made up of several thousand soldiers.
In the neighboring Luhansk region, a planned Ukrainian advance was delayed and an attack to liberate the town of Svatovo was postponed due to bad weather, the sector’s military commander Yuri Federenko told Espreso TV.
Wagner mercenaries and “special forces in Ukrainian uniforms” who spoke Ukrainian were active in the area, he said.
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Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
