On Wednesday, Ukraine revealed a new military scenario that Russia is preparing in an effort to change the course of the war, while Moscow put more of its strategic weapons on alert.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his videotaped evening address on Wednesday that Russia plans to call in more forces to launch a new major offensive.
"We have no doubt that Russia's current leaders will throw everything in their arsenal and whoever they can mobilize to try to change the course of the war and at least delay their defeat," Zelensky added.
The Ukrainian president added that his country is preparing to sabotage this Russian scenario, saying that any Russian attempt to launch a new attack must fail.
On Tuesday, Zelensky indicated, during contacts with Western leaders, the possibility of a major escalation on the part of Russia after the death of a large number of its soldiers in a missile strike in the Donetsk region (eastern Ukraine) on New Year's Eve. He had previously revealed information that Russia Planning long-term attacks on his country through drones.
The Ukrainian strike, in which at least 90 newly recruited soldiers were killed, sparked criticism of the Russian military leadership and calls for those responsible for these losses to be held accountable and revenge for the dead.
Two Ukrainian soldiers fire mortar shells at Russian positions in the vicinity of the city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine (Reuters)
Spring offensive
In exchange for talking about a new large-scale Russian attack, the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kirill Budanov, said that his country plans to launch a major attack next spring on the locations of Russian forces, considering that the fighting in March will be "the most fierce."
Budanov added, in statements to the American "ABC" network (ABC), that the attack will include all Russian sites, starting with the Crimea peninsula - which Russia annexed to it in 2014 - and ending with the Donbass region, which is located in eastern Ukraine and parts of it are controlled by Russian forces.
The Ukrainian official confirmed that the Ukrainian attacks inside the Russian territory will deepen further, and he talked about that hundreds of corpses of Russian soldiers are decomposing in open fields near the city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, in the east of the country.
Regarding Bakhmut, a senior official in the US administration said that there is a belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent about 10,000 combat personnel to Bakhmut and incurred many casualties.
The American official added that the Ukrainians are confident of their success in Bakhmut, but explained that the results of the current fierce battles are still unknown.
He pointed out that the Wagner Group is fighting in the north-east of Ukraine, and that Russia is focusing on the southern regions of Ukraine to compensate for its losses.
Russian strategic weapons
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that it had conducted a test of the hypersonic "Zircon" missile, noting that the missile was fired from the "Admiral Groshkov" frigate in the Barents Sea, northwest of Russia.
The ministry added that the launch took place within the framework of testing new types of weapons, explaining that the missile hit with high accuracy a sea target about 1,000 kilometers away from the launch site.
Russian President Vladimir Putin supervised, via video, the sailing of the frigate, equipped with new hypersonic missiles, on a mission in the Atlantic, Indian and Mediterranean oceans.
Putin said during a ceremony attended by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that this frigate has "weapons unparalleled in the world" on board, adding, "I am confident that such powerful weapons will effectively protect Russia from external threats and help defend national interests."
The Tsirkon is one of the most dangerous Russian missiles, launched from warships and submarines and capable of reaching the United States, according to Russian media reports when it was revealed two years ago.
Earlier, Russia Today quoted the commander of long-range aviation in the Russian Air and Space Forces, Lieutenant General Sergey Kobilash, as saying that planes carrying strategic missiles will participate this year in the "special military operation", which is the name that Moscow gives to its military operations in Ukraine.
Bradley armored vehicles during previous exercises of the US Army in South Korea (Getty Images - Archive)
French American aid
On the other hand, US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that his administration is considering sending "Bradley" armored vehicles to Ukraine, and Kyiv had asked Washington to also provide it with "Abrams" tanks.
Since the mid-eighties, the US Army has been using Bradley armored vehicles to transport soldiers during battles.
It is expected that the Biden administration will announce in the next few days a new package of military aid, and the value of aid provided by Washington to Kiev has exceeded $20 billion since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine on February 24.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba revealed that the transfer of US "Patriot" missile systems to Ukraine had begun.
Moscow hinted that it would target these systems if they were transferred to Ukraine.
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday, during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, that France will hand over light combat tanks to Ukraine, according to the French presidency.
In a tweet, Zelensky thanked France for this new assistance. The number of tanks and their delivery dates were not specified.