Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal is to “capture Donbas by March,” a representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service said, adding that fighting in eastern Ukraine is expected to intensify in the next few months, CNN reports.

“We expect very active events in February-March. Putin’s task is to seize Donbas by March,” Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said in a comment published on his website on Friday.

CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Yusov further stated that this alleged plan “will not work” and that “these dates have already been postponed many times.”

“The intensity that we see now in Donbas is an attempt to implement these plans. Not taking into account the losses in people and equipment. The enemy is trying to fulfill the dictator’s tasks,” Yusov added.

“Therefore, there will be active events in the near future. The Armed Forces are not waiting.”

Another representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Chernyak, previously stated that there are signs that Russia is preparing for a major offensive aimed at capturing the eastern regions of the country.

“We are observing that the Russian occupation forces are redeploying additional assault groups, units, weapons and military equipment to the east. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, Putin has ordered to capture the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by March,” Chernyak said in a comment. a comment published on Wednesday in the Kyiv Post.

The comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and senior Ukrainian officials warned that Russia was planning a major new offensive in the coming months, repeatedly demanding more weapons, tanks and fighter jets from Western allies.

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