Russia is preparing for the spring offensive

Berlin, Riga Three weeks before the first anniversary of Russia’s large-scale attack on Ukraine, the Ukrainian leadership in Kyiv expects a new offensive by the Russian military. Such a move could bring Ukraine the heaviest fighting since last February.

Russia is already stepping up attacks on the neighboring country. In the past few days, the Russian armed forces have intensified the shelling in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas, according to Ukrainian military bloggers on Twitter and Telegram. To date, however, Russia has only been able to gain small amounts of territory. The village of Bachmut in particular has been the subject of hard fighting for weeks.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky predicted in his evening video address on Thursday evening that Russia would launch new attacks from the areas it controls. Earlier he admitted that Ukraine was in a difficult situation in Donetsk.