Ukrainians expect Russia to launch a new offensive to strengthen its negotiation position

Kyiv, Ukraine (AP)-Russian forces are preparing to launch a new military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize the pressure on Ukraine and strengthen the Kremlin negotiation position in cease-fire talks, the Ukrainian government and military analysts said.

This decision could give Russian President Vladimir Putin all the reasons to delay discussions on the fighting break in favor of the search for more land, said Ukrainian officials this week, renewing the repeated arguments of their country according to which Russia did not intend to engage in a significant dialogue to end the war.

According to analysts and 1000 km commanders (621 miles), the spring combat season is close to the several -part combat season through the 1000 km front line (621 miles).

Citing intelligence reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia is preparing for new offensives in the northeast in the Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizizhia regions.

“They drag the talks and try to put the United States trapped in endless and unnecessary discussions on the Faugsus’ Conditions’ ‘Just to buy time, then try to grasp more land,” Zelenskyy said on a visit to Paris.

Two G7 diplomatic officials in Kyiv agreed with this evaluation. They spoke under the cover of anonymity because they were not allowed to inform the press.

Russia has actually rejected an American proposal for an immediate and complete 30-day stop in the fighting, and the feasibility of a partial ceasefire on the Black Sea was questioned after the Kremlin negotiators imposed large-scale conditions.

Four people died and 24 were injured on Friday evening after Russian drones struck Dnipro in the eastern country, according to the regional governor Serhii Lysak and the Ukraine emergency service. At least eight other people were injured when a Russian ballistic missile struck near Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy reported, Governor Lysak reported.

The success of the battlefield is clearly in Putin’s mind.

“Throughout the front line, the strategic initiative is completely in the hands of the Russian armed forces,” said Putin Thursday during a forum in the Arctic port of Murmansk. “Our troops, our guys advance and release a territory after another, a colony after another, every day.”

Kremlin forces continue to advance

Ukrainian military commanders said Russia recently intensified its attacks to improve its tactical positions before the wider offensive expected.

“They need time until May, that’s all,” said Ukrainian military analyst Pavlo Narozhnyi, who works with soldiers and learns their intelligence.

In the North, Russian and North Korean soldiers almost deprived kyiv of an essential negotiation program by taking over most of the Kursk Russia region, where Ukrainian soldiers organized a daring foray last year. The battles also increased along the eastern front in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia.

A concern among some commanders is whether Russia could divert the hardened forces by the Battle of Kursk to other parts of the East.

“It will be difficult. Kursk’s forces will come from their victories there,” said a Ukrainian battalion commander in the Donetsk region, who spoke under the guise of anonymity to describe his concerns.

“They prepare offensive actions on the front which should last from six to nine months, almost everything in 2025,” said Ukrainian military analyst Oleksi Hetman, who has links with the general army staff.

The fight intensifies on certain parts of the front line

Russia has undertaken negotiations with a clear advantage in the war. Now, after having resumed 80% of its territory in the Kursk region before the talks, its forces have intensified their fights in other parts of the first line.

“The number of claims on the front line does not decrease,” said Hetman. “If they wanted to stop war, their actions certainly do not show it.”

Russia has increased recognition missions to find and destroy shooting positions, drone systems and other capacities that could hinder a future assault, said two Ukrainian commanders.

“It can be any sign that an attack is being prepared in the near future,” said Hetman.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said that its troops had taken a village in the Sumy region in Ukraine, through the Kursk border. Zelenskyy appointed province earlier as one of the targets of a Russian spring offensive. The Russian complaint could not be checked independently and Ukraine has not commented.

The fighting also intensified in the eastern city of Pokrovsk, one of the main defensive bastions of Ukraine and a key logistics center in the Donetsk region. Its capture would bring Russia closer to its declared objective of capturing the whole region.

“The Russians have been considerably exhausted in the past two months. For 10 days of March, they have taken a sort of break,” said military spokesperson, Major Viktor Trehubov about the situation in Pokrovsk. In mid-March, the attack resumed. “This means that the Russians have simply re -established themselves.”

Russia increases recognition missions

A Ukrainian soldier with the “Italian” appeal signal said Russia achieved intensive recognition in his area of ​​responsibility in the Pokrovsk region. Radio interceptions and intelligence show an accumulation of forces in the Selidove region, a city in the Pokrovsk region and the creation of ammunition reserves, he said.

The accumulation includes large armored vehicles, and the many new appeal signals heard in radio transmissions suggest that new forces are coming, he said.

Further south, a military blog led by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a former officer of the press section of the Russian Defense Ministry, noted last week that Russian troops recently sparked a new offensive west of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The offensive will allow Russian forces to head to the city of Zaporizhzhia and “force the enemy to redeploy his troops from other sectors, leaving robot and Mala Tokmachka badly protected,” said the blog known as Rybar, adding that the new offensive could be the first step towards the release of the Zaporizhzhie region “.

Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for southern Ukraine forces said on Friday, said the situation in the region was heavy after Russia has raised other forces to carry out attacks with small infantry groups.

Russian analysts provide optimism that future offensive will succeed.

“The two parties are actively preparing for the spring-summer campaign,” wrote Sergey Poletaev, a military analyst based in Moscow, in a recent comment. “There is a growing feeling that Ukrainian forces can find it difficult to prepare for it.”

Little progress reported at the negotiation table

Meanwhile, at the negotiation table, Russian requests have reduced the highly anticipated negotiations negotiated by the United States

Earlier this month, after Russia has effectively refused the American proposal for a complete and long stop in the fighting, Moscow temporarily accepted a partial ceasefire on the shipping channels of the Black Sea.

But this agreement was quickly questioned by the insistence of Russia on the large -scale conditions that his State Bank was reconnected to the rapid international payment system, which kyiv and the EU rejected.

Along the front line, the high and stockings reported in the talks fuel frustration and concern.

“No one believes in them,” said the Ukrainian soldier known as the Italian, who spoke of the condition that he is only identified by his appeal signal in accordance with the military protocol. “But there is still hope that the conflict will move in another direction. Everyone expects changes in the combat zone because it’s not good for us now. We really don’t want to admit it.”

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Journalists from the Associated Press Volodymyr Yurchuk and Dmytro Zyhinas contributed to this report.