Russia is preparing to launch a massive offensive in Ukraine in spring or early summer, the Kremlin-backed press touts.
Putin’s forces are reportedly preparing ‘big reserve forces’ and ‘large units’ that analysts say will ‘100 per cent advance’ on Ukrainian troops once the weather changes.
Citing how Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops will be deprived of American military equipment and intelligence, Russian state-controlled media warns that Ukraine will be in for a ‘nasty surprise’.
It previously proved difficult for Russian forces to conceal the launch of large troop offensive because NATO satellites would record their movement and alert Ukraine, Kremlin-backed newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reports.
But Russia now believes that without US support in Ukraine, its army will have a ‘higher chance of finding the enemy’s weak spot’ and ‘striking when they’re not expecting it’.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia may need to act to respond to what it called European Union plans to militarise the bloc that cast Russia as its main adversary.
European leaders on Thursday backed plans to spend more on defence and continue to stand by Ukraine in a world upended by Donald Trump’s reversal of US policies.
Zelensky’s forces, meanwhile, are trying to hold territory in Russia’s Kursk region after Putin’s Army broke through the Ukrainian defense line south of Sudzhi overnight.
Russia is preparing to launch a massive offensive in Ukraine in spring or early summer, the Kremlin-backed press touts. Russian soldiers are pictured as they prepare to fire toward Ukrainian positions on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025
Citing how Volodymyr Zelensky ‘s troops will be deprived of American military equipment and intelligence, Russian state-controlled media warns that Ukraine will be in for a ‘nasty surprise’. Pictured are Russian soldiers riding atop Akatsyia self-propelled gun on an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025
The White House has suspended its intelligence sharing with Ukraine and cut off all US military aid to the war-torn nation as Donald trump, pictured in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelensky on February 28 this year, tries to force Kyiv to the negotiating table
Kremlin propagandists hit out at Britain and other European nations on Friday for standing by Ukraine despite Trump demanding a ‘swift end’ to the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the European Union ‘is positioning Russia as its main adversary’.
‘We see that the European Union is now actively discussing the militarisation of the EU and the development of the defence segment,’ Peskov said, noting that ‘this is a process that we are watching closely’.
‘This, of course, could potentially be a topic of deep concern for us and there could be a need to take appropriate measures in response to ensure our security.
‘And, of course, such confrontational rhetoric and confrontational thinking that we are now seeing in Brussels and in European capitals is, seriously at odds with the mood for finding a peaceful settlement around Ukraine.’
The state-controlled Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper accused Europe of ‘trying to come up with ways to continue pouring oil on the fire’, while the Izvestia blamed the UK for ‘once again trying to derail the peace process in Ukraine’.
Russian forces damaged Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure overnight in their first major missile attack since the US paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Zelensky, seeking to shore up Western support for his country after Trump’s diplomatic pivot towards Moscow, called for a truce covering air and sea, though not ground troops – an idea first mooted by France.
‘The first steps to establishing real peace should be forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks,’ Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app, responding to the overnight missile attack.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia may need to act to respond to what it called European Union plans to militarise the bloc that cast Russia as its main adversary. Russian soldiers are pictured preparing a strike FPV drone aircraft “Molniya-2” to fly towards Ukrainian position in an undisclosed location on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025
Russia now believes that without US support in Ukraine, its army will have a ‘higher chance of finding the enemy’s weak spot’ and ‘striking when they’re not expecting it’, Kremlin-backed media reports. Pictured are Russian soldiers riding atop Akatsiya self-propelled gun at an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 7, 2025
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired a salvo of 67 missiles and 194 drones in the overnight attack, adding that it had shot down 34 of the missiles and 100 of the drones.
Regional officials from the northeastern city of Kharkiv to the western city of Ternopil reported damage to energy and other infrastructure. Eight people were injured in Kharkiv and two more, including a child, were hurt in Poltava, officials said.
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‘Russia continues its energy terror,’ Energy Minister German Galuschenko said. ‘Again energy and gas infrastructure in various regions of Ukraine has come under massive missile and drone fire.’
Russia targets Ukrainian cities and towns far from the front lines every night with drones, but Friday’s attack was the first large-scale assault since the suspension of American military aid and intelligence this week.
Ukraine’s relations with the US, previously its most important ally, have plunged into crisis since Zelensky’s acrimonious exchange with Trump in the Oval Office last Friday before the world’s TV cameras.
Trump said afterwards that Zelensky – whom he had already branded a ‘dictator’ – that the Ukrainian leader was an obstacle to his vision for bringing peace to Ukraine.
In a bid to patch things up, Zelensky said on Tuesday that Kyiv was ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible and to work under Trump’s leadership, calling the way things had gone in Washington ‘regrettable’.
Zelensky, in a further sign of re-engagement with the US, said late on Thursday he would travel to Saudi Arabia next Monday for a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ahead of talks there later in the week between US and Ukrainian officials.
Emergency teams and civilians are at the scene where a Russian Iskander missile hit a civilian infrastructure facility, causing an explosion and therefore fire and damage in ten garages and five cars in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 7, 2025
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of Russian shelling near a residential building in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine on March 7, 2025
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has already held extensive talks with Russian officials, said he was in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end the three-year war and confirmed that a meeting was planned next week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.
‘Ukraine is ready to pursue the path to peace, and it is Ukraine that strives for peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war,’ Zelensky said in his Telegram message on Friday.
It remains unclear whether Washington and Kyiv can bridge their different visions for ending the war. Kyiv has been pressing for robust security guarantees, but the United States has declined to commit, pointing to a potential critical minerals agreement that Trump believes would be enough.
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On the battlefield, Ukraine is outnumbered and Russian forces are steadily advancing in the eastern Donetsk region and mounting major pressure on Ukrainian troops trying to hold territory in Russia’s Kursk region.
Russia has pounded the Ukrainian power sector with missiles and drones throughout the war, knocking out about half the national electricity generating capacity and forcing rolling blackouts at various junctures in the war.
This year Russia has focused more on infrastructure for natural gas, which is used for heating and cooking and also by industrial enterprises. ‘Production facilities that ensure gas production were damaged. Fortunately, there were no casualties,’ the Naftogaz energy company said.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK halted gas production at its facilities in the central Poltava region after sustaining significant damage in Friday’s attack, it said.
The pause in US military aid and intelligence may undermine Ukraine’s air defences as it runs low on advanced missiles and struggles to track attacks as effectively, military analysts say.
Rescuers stand amid debris in the yard of a residential building after a Russian missile attack on March 7, 2025 in Kharkiv, Ukraine
A rescuer stands amid smoke and debris near a damaged premise after a Russian missile attack on March 7, 2025 in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Meanwhile, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda proposed enshrining defence spending of at least 4 per cent of GDP in the constitution on Friday, while the prime minister said every adult male would receive military training – as Warsaw readies itself for threats from Moscow.
Galvanised by Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine three years ago, Poland now spends a higher proportion of GDP on defence than any other NATO member, including the United States.
Last year Poland’s defence spending reached 4.1 per cent of GDP, according to NATO estimates, and it plans to hit 4.7 per cent this year.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk later said in parliament that spending 5 per cent on defence seems ‘a necessity, but that Poles have ‘a lot of effort ahead of us.’
He added that the government wanted to put in place by the end of the year a system for training every adult male for the event of a war, without presenting further details.
‘We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war so that this reserve is truly… adequate to potential threats,’ Tusk said.