Russia is preparing a new ground offensive in southeastern Ukraine and aims to capture the entire Donbas by September.
This was stated by Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, in an interview with the Financial Times.
According to him, Russian forces are increasing their strikes with ballistic missiles on Ukrainian cities.
"Moscow produces about 60 Iskander missiles per month and has expanded the number of launchers, while Ukraine lacks sufficient modern air defense systems, such as American Patriot systems, to protect the entire country," Skibitskyi noted.
He warned that critical infrastructure, especially energy facilities, was severely damaged by Russian airstrikes over the winter and remains highly vulnerable amid Moscow’s continued refinement of its strike tactics.
Skibitskyi said that increasingly intensive Russian missile and drone attacks are part of broader efforts to destroy critical infrastructure and prepare the battlefield ahead of a new spring-summer offensive operation.
“Russia is preparing a new ground offensive in southeastern Ukraine, deploying its strategic reserves to reinforce its forces in the country with 20,000 new fighters. With about 680,000 soldiers currently on the ground, Russia aims to capture the entire Donbas by September,” he said, citing a Ukrainian military intelligence assessment provided to the FT.
Thus, Skibitskyi noted, Moscow is demonstrating that it is not serious about negotiations and instead plans to continue the war.
