Putin likely wants to encircle Ukraine, Polish PM says

"I think this is a plan of Putin and his people, such as Valery Gerasimov, the new commander-in-chief of the Russian army, to surround Ukraine,” he stated.

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“And in preparing all these plans, he probably feels that he needs to at-tack from two or three different directions.”

According to Morawiecki, Kyiv cannot rule out attacks from the Belarusian side to encircle Kyiv from the west.

According to the Polish PM, a new Russian offensive will take place in March-April, as the ground is not suitable for heavy tanks due to the warm winter.

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"Putin will probably want to wait until all the mud, swamps, and unprepared ground for the offensive dries up," he said.

Morawiecki warned that the offensive would be fierce.

"According to all the information from Ukraine, I know that there will be another Russian offensive, probably in March or April, and it will be a very tough offensive..." the PM added.

Morawiecki noted that Putin not only hates Ukraine, but also wants to show once again in Russia that he is a "long-haul player who never gives up."

The prime minister added that the aggressor has "really vast resources," and Putin has called for and mobilized many new soldiers: from 200,000 to 250,000.

"He has a lot of ammunition, a lot of weapons, and a lot of people," Morawiecki said.

In a December interview with The Economist, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that the aggressor state could launch a new major offensive in February 2023. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov predicted that a new large-scale offensive by Russian troops would begin in the spring.

Read also: Putin’s ‘window of opportunity’ on battlefield closing, says former NATO head Rasmussen

A representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Vadym Skibitsky, said that as part of Moscow's preparations for a new offensive, Russian troops are regrouping on all axes of the front line.

On Jan. 30, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted that despite the Kremlin's plans, Ukraine would defeat the enemy troops and prepare its own major counteroffensive.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine