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By Thomas Kika
Weekend Staff Writer
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A leading Ukrainian government official on Tuesday warned that Russia could attempt another large offensive early next year.
Dmytro Kuleba, head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, released a video briefing on the ministry's official YouTube channel. He discussed Russia's potential plans, suggesting the invading nation could be prepping for a redoubled offensive within the first few months of 2023.
"I think the Russian ability to launch a major offensive will probably be restored sometime in late January or February," Kuleba said. "But that's what they're trying to do and what we're trying to prevent.
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"That is, I am not saying that it will definitely happen. But in the best-case scenario, taking into account the mobilization, the conscription that they announced, the training of new conscripts and the movement of their heavy weapons around the country—they clearly hold out hope that they will be able to break through our defenses and advance deeper into Ukraine."
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Despite this ominous prediction, Kuleba stressed that he also believes a new attempted offensive by Russia would fail and pledged that Ukraine is doing everything it can to prepare for it.
Kuleba also said Ukraine is working toward ending the fight with Russia as soon as possible. Though he could not provide a definitive timeline, he did add that an end to the invasion by the summer would be an ideal scenario.
Should Russia launch a new offensive within the first few months of 2023, it would come around the same time the war marks its first anniversary. Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, claiming with dubious evidence that ethnic Russians were being persecuted in certain breakaway regions and pledging to "denazify" the country's leadership.
The invasion has not gone well for Russia. Ukrainian fighters, catapulted by significant foreign aid, have prevented the Russians from taking the capital of Kyiv, forcing enemy troops to focus on a few key areas to the east and south, where the battles are still raging.
Despite considerable military setbacks in the early fall, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, including the breakaway Donbas quadrants, which were fixtures in the Kremlin's pretext for invasion. The annexations remain broadly unrecognized on the world stage, and Ukrainian forces have since managed to recapture key areas within them.
Newsweek has reached out to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
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