Russia intensifies winter assault as Ukraine braces for major offensive
- Ukraine expects Moscow will attempt to mount another major offensive with freshly mobilised troops in the coming weeks
- Ukraine reports 1,030 Russian dead in 24 hours; Russia says it inflicted 6,500 Ukrainian casualties in January
Russian forces ramped up a winter assault in eastern Ukraine, bringing tens of thousands of freshly mobilised troops to the battlefield, while Kyiv expected Moscow to broaden its offensive as towns in the northeast and south came under fire.
Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday that 1,030 Russian troops were killed over 24 hours, the highest daily toll of the war. The figure could not be independently verified, and Russia has also claimed to have killed large numbers of Ukrainian troops in recent weeks.
For its part, Russia said it had inflicted 6,500 Ukrainian casualties in the month of January.
Ukraine national security chief Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview on Tuesday that the Kremlin is expected to target the northeastern Kharkiv or southern Zaporizhzhia regions in a new thrust.
“Attempts at an offensive in either the Kharkiv or Zaporizhzhia direction will of course be made,” he told Reuters in Kyiv. “How successful they’ll be will depend on us.”
The Ukraine Armed Forces said on Tuesday evening that more than 30 towns and villages in Kharkiv and 20 communities in Zaporizhzhia came under fire.