How Putin is preparing massive assault with ‘500,000 men on two fronts’ – and Ukraine think they know the EXACT date
VLADIMIR Putin is feared to be preparing for a new onslaught on Ukraine with up to 500,000 soldiers.
Russia is believed to be plotting an attack across two new fronts - pushing into eastern and southern Ukraine.
Kyiv believe Mad Vlad's attack may happen around February 24 - the one year anniversary of the invasion.
Putin is desperate to achieve something after a bruising first year which has seen his forces thrown back.
Ukraine however fear the next few weeks will be crucial for the conflict as they continue to call for weapons from the West.
Defence minister Oleksii Reznikov believes Putin is gathering up to 500,00 soldiers for the new offensive.
READ MORE ON RUSSIA
And it comes as Putin's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov said Russia was ready to .
He didn't provide any further details.
It is understood there are around 326,000 Russian troops currently on operation in Ukraine.
And it's been reported between 150,000 and 200,000 are in camps on training exercises, with Ukraine also warning Putin could call up another 500,000 conscripts.
Most read in The Sun
Reznikov warned the Russians could carry out an offensive on two fronts, pushing into the south and into the east in the Donbas.
Kyiv is preparing for the assault - but have admitted things will be difficult and warned they "cannot lose the initiative".
Vlad's initial assault last February saw his forces storm towards Kyiv before they were sent back by the Ukrainians.
Ukraine then went on the counteroffensive, liberating huge swathes of the country from the disorganised Russians.
The conflict then slowed down over the winter.
And in recent weeks it has been reported the Russians were beginning to make gains.
Putin will likely be seeking some sort of major triumph or new operation to mark the anniversary - with his future now tied to the success or failure of the war.
"We can’t lose the initiative... We think that, given that [the Russians] live by symbols, they can try something around February 24," said Reznikov.
He spoke of around "500,000" soldiers being mobilised by Putin.
The minister explained: "They officially declared about 300,000, but when we see their troops at the borders, according to our estimates, it is much more.
"[They] can carry out an offensive on two fronts: it can be Donbas, and it can be the south."
These will be defining months in the war
Oleksiy Danilov
He added: "We tell our partners that we should be prepared as soon as possible.
"That is why we need weapons to deter the enemy, because initiative decides everything in war."
It comes after Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg this week warned the Russians were getting ready for a major new attack.
He said Putin was preparing to mobilise more than 200,000 new troops.
Previous reports from Russian media have suggested the attack could involved up to 700,000 soldiers.
According to Ukraine, more than 129,000 Russians are lying dead in the war's muddy battlefields.
The war has seen Vlad's forces thrown back and any hopes of a quick victory have sunk to the bottom of the Black Sea.
But despite staggering losses - the Russian army is understood to be more than one million men strong, with another two million reservists who could called up.
And Putin's defence boss Sergei Shoigu has announced plans to swell the number of active personnel to one and a half million from 2023.
The offered an update saying it believes Putin will not stage a previously speculated assault on Western Ukraine from Belarus.
But they suggested Vlad may be preparing for smaller raids on northern Ukraine in a bid to spread their defenses thin ahead the new offensive.
The think tank previously claimed an "imminent" offensive on the war-torn nation is "the most likely course of action".
"These will be defining months in the war," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told Sky News.
"I’m conscious the main fights are yet to come and they will happen this year, within two to three months."
“Russia is preparing for maximum escalation. It is gathering everything possible, doing drills and training.
"When it comes to an offensive from different directions, as of now, I can say that we are not excluding any scenario in the next two to three weeks.”
Ukrainian official Natalia Humeniuk also noted they are preparing for a new assault from the South.
"Not just on land, but on the sea and in air as well," she said.
Kremlin forces have reportedly been expelling Ukrainian civilians from their homes in eastern regions as they gather their military might.
GUR representative Andrii Yusov told Ukrainian TV that the country was on the eve of a "very active phase of the war".
He added: "Both February and March will be intensive.
"The skill and motivation of Ukrainian soldiers, plus their equipment and weapons, both domestic and [those sent as] help from international partners, are what will ultimately turn the tide of these offensive actions."
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian soldier has urged Russian forces to abandon their posts before they are killed in Mad Vlad's war of aggression.
Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol, head of Ukraine's marines, said: "I will separately address the Russian military: before it's too late, run, return to your Maruskas [Russian women] or surrender, otherwise it's the fate of a fertiliser on someone else's land; a black bag or disability awaits you, this is your 'happy' future.
"Unlike you, we know what we are fighting for, we are united, we are one.
"We will do everything so that the blue-yellow flag flies again in all cities of Donbas and Crimea."
Lieutenant General Sodol also predicted that thousands of Russian troops were set to invade in the coming months.
Moscow's response was to accuse NATO of mobilising all its military infrastructure against Russia, even including satellites.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move created "very peculiar, hostile conditions" for Russia and that his government has taken notice.
However, the country's troops seem to be floundering on the battlefield, as a leaked phone call between front-line forces revealed.
One soldier called the campaign a "meat grinder" and that basic supplies like water were heavily rationed.
Ukraine have detailed the "war chest" of new weaponry that they want the West to provide to repel the attack, but the US stopped short of sending F-16 fighter jets.
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has told reporters that it would "not be the right approach" to send jets but said no "solid decision" had been made.
Likewise, Moscow mouthpiece Peskov warned that long-range rockets which are believed to be included in an upcoming support package for Ukraine from the US would "escalate" the conflict.
