The Ukrainian army said that it repelled dozens of Russian attacks in the east and north-east of the country ahead of the first anniversary of the start of the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed confidence in victory, while his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin confirmed that his country would pay increasing attention to the "nuclear triad."

And the Ukrainian army announced, Thursday morning, that its forces had repulsed 90 attacks by Russian forces in the east and northeast during the past 24 hours.

And the Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted Ukrainian military sources as saying that the Russian Wagner Group has intensified its attacks on the fighting axes in the strategic city of Bakhmut, east of the country.

The sources added that Wagner made progress at the village of Birkhivka, north of Bakhmut, but it incurred great material and human losses, according to the description of the sources.

Commenting on field developments, US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that in its recent offensive in eastern Ukraine, Russia only took control of some villages "at a huge cost."

Meanwhile, Ukraine closed some schools in anticipation of long-range missile attacks on the anniversary of the war, which falls tomorrow, Friday, February 24, but officials in Kiev said that they believe that Russia no longer has the ability to project force on a large scale.


Forecasts of Ukrainian intelligence

"Nothing extraordinary will happen. A normal (Russian) attempt ... a planned small missile strike," Kirillo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence, said in an interview with the Ukrainian news website Ukraineska Pravda.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "We have not broken. We have overcome a lot of ordeals and we will win. We will hold accountable all those who brought this evil, this war to our land."

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke - in a video clip on the occasion of Defenders of the Fatherland Day - about his country's nuclear arsenal and about Moscow's plans to increase military industrialization in general.

"We will pay increased attention to strengthening the nuclear triad," Putin said, referring to the capabilities of launching nuclear missiles from land, sea and air.

"We will continue the large-scale production of the Kinjal supersonic systems, and we will start processing huge supplies of Zircon hypersonic sea-launched missiles," he said.

Putin promised that this year would witness the entry into service of the Sarmat system, which is a new multi-head intercontinental ballistic missile, which the Russian president had described as capable of thwarting all air defense systems.


Sarmat missile

And CNN quoted US officials as saying that Russia had tested a Sarmat missile before US President Joe Biden's recent visit to Ukraine, but the test failed.

The Kremlin refused to comment on this news, warning of Western "provocations".

Putin also saw in his speech that the army is a "guarantor" of the stability, future and sovereignty of the Russian state, pledging to increase the production of all types of conventional weapons.

On the other hand, the finance ministers of the G7 countries - meeting in the Indian city of Bengaluru - said that they had increased their commitment to economic support for Ukraine to $39 billion based on its need.

In a statement, the ministers said that the sanctions imposed on Russia have greatly undermined its ability to wage its "illegal" war.

On the other hand, the United Nations General Assembly is expected to pass a resolution calling for an end to the war, on the eve of the first anniversary of its outbreak.

Ukraine hopes that up to three-quarters of the countries in the General Assembly will vote in favor of the resolution, increasing Russia's diplomatic isolation.

Moscow described the draft resolution as unbalanced.