Newsweek tried to speculate on the location of this spring's Ukrainian attack on Russian forces in its territory, saying Kiev was planning it, and that Russian military bloggers and journalists were trying to guess the location of the attack.
As Russia's eastern attrition offensive draws to a close, attention is once again turning to the planned spring counteroffensive from Ukraine, which Kiev and its foreign partners hope will lead to the collapse of Russian lines and the liberation of another large part of the occupied territories.
Observers speculate that Ukraine may be looking to launch an offensive in the south around Zaporizhia, or seek to retake parts of the eastern Donbas region.
Ukrainian crowds in Zaporizhia
Russia's state news agency TASS reported on Monday that Kiev had mobilized about 75,<> troops on the southern Zaporizhia front.
Last week, another TASS report noted an increasing concentration of Ukrainian artillery on the eastern Donbas front, where Ukraine may also consider counterattacking after months of defending against Russian attacks.
Ukrainian leaders are reticent about their intentions, though they have made clear that a spring counteroffensive is imminent and likely to be supported by a new glut of Western main battle tanks and other armored vehicles arriving in the country.
Does Kiev repeat its misinformation to the Russians?
Ukraine's military leadership has proven adept at concealing its intentions. Mark Voyager, a nonresident researcher at the Center for European Analysis in Washington, was quoted as saying that he expects this leadership to repeat a similar disinformation process: "They will have to repeat what they did in the fall successfully. This is crucial, but a lot of expectations and discussions about the planned attack mean this will be difficult."
The Ukrainian offensive in the Donbas region is risky, although it may be less dangerous if Russian units there have deteriorated enough due to fighting in hotspots, such as Pakhmot, Kremina, Avdievka and Svatov.
Will it be close to Crimea?
In the south, the report asserts that successful attacks from Kherson, Zaporizhia or both will endanger Crimea, threatening the land bridge from the occupied peninsula to the western Russian border via occupied and devastated Mariupol. Melitopol, located south of the Zaporizhia front line, will be a prime target for any Ukrainian offensive in the region.
On the timing of the anticipated attack, Newsweek said Kiev is keeping its cards secret, although it seems that Ukrainian leaders have decided to wait for their counteroffensive until new Western weapons and NATO-trained forces are ready to fight.
Alex Kokcharov, a British-based risk analyst who specializes in Russia and Ukraine, said deep strikes against Russian logistics networks would be an indication of when and where a counterattack might take place, "This is what we observed last year in the Kharkiv counterattack, and then in the attack on Kherson."