Ukraine war: Russia steps up attacks as war's first anniversary nears
Kyiv, Ukraine - Ukrainian forces are coming under increased pressure in eastern Ukraine, the site of some of the bloodiest battles to date, as the Russian invasion is just 11 days away from its first anniversary.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that a long anticipated offensive by Russian forces against Ukraine was already under way.
"I think the reality is that we have seen the start already," Stoltenberg said at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Russia was already deploying "thousands and thousands of more troops, accepting a very high rate of casualty, taking big losses, but putting pressure on the Ukrainians," he added.
"What Russia lacks in quality, they try to compensate in quantity," Stoltenberg noted.
"For me, this just highlights the importance of timing. It's urgent to provide Ukraine with more weapons," he said, ahead of a US-led meeting on Tuesday of around 50 countries to coordinate weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
"We are in a race of logistics," he stated.
"Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield. Speed will save lives."
Ukraine and its allies have been saying for weeks they expected a major Russian onslaught in the east as spring approaches.
Ukraine sees blackouts amid heavy fighting with Russia in the east
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner claimed on Sunday that his private army has captured a suburb of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut amid heavy fighting. Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm this.
Apart from hefty casualties on the front, Ukrainian citizens are suffering from periodic blackouts as Russia targets key infrastructure. On Sunday, Ukrainian electricity production was restored after the latest Russian rocket attacks targeting power infrastructure, according to Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko.
Moscow has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure in waves of missile attacks since the fall.
Meanwhile as Russia battles to overpower the east, seizing Bakhmut would bring Moscow closer to overpowering the whole Donetsk region, one of the Kremlin's stated aims in the war.
Ukrainians suspect that Putin wants to create facts with new offensives before the war's first anniversary on February 24.
Abroad, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to call for more support to help Kyiv prevail, including measures targeting Moscow's nuclear energy sector.
"It is not easy. There is some resistance," Zelensky said over the weekend during his nightly video message.
He noted that sanctioning Russia's oil was also difficult but now those sanctions were in effect, indicating that the nuclear energy sector could also be targeted.
Cover photo: REUTERS