Almost a year after launching the invasion, Russia is finalizing a new large-scale military attack against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, confirmed on Sunday at a press conference what Western intelligence services and the military on the front have been warning for days: Russian troops are amassing forces for an imminent triple offensive: from the two provinces that make up the Donbas region (Lugansk and Donetsk) and from the southern front, in Zaporiyia. The Kremlin’s goal, according to the Ukrainian government and independent Russian media, is to conquer the entire eastern Donbas region in the spring.
Reznikov said Ukrainian authorities expect Russia to begin its campaign in February with the aim of completely taking over Donbas and, from the front in Zaporiyia, expanding the territory under its control to ensure the security of the military corridor connecting the Russian border with the Sea of Azov and Crimea by land.
Russia in November redoubled its bid to conquer Bakhmut, and three months later, it has not yet succeeded. The chances of it occupying all of Donbas during the spring are nil, according to the Ukrainian government. Both armies have been engaged since January in a race against the clock to prepare their respective offensives for late winter or early spring.